


Monsters

by Happyritas



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: A bit squishy, Blood controling, Descriptive Dreams, Elements, F/F, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Mental Abuse, Metalbending & Metalbenders, Mild Cursing, My Own Species, Ninth Doctor - Freeform, OC is African American, Other, Physical Abuse, Rose Tyler - Freeform, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicidal actions, Violence, attempted suicide, just a bunch of angst, like really, mention of rape, tenth doctor - Freeform, too much angst, violent nightmares
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-06
Updated: 2016-07-26
Packaged: 2018-04-30 06:42:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 27
Words: 180,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5154044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Happyritas/pseuds/Happyritas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>•••<br/>The Aliens<br/>•<br/>The Destroyers<br/>•<br/>The Murders<br/>•<br/>The Monsters<br/>•••</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. S U M M A R Y

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta.
> 
> Please do not copy.

_...If I told you what I was, would you turn your back on me? And if I seem dangerous, would you be scared? I get the feeling just because everything I touch isn't dark enough. That this problem lies in me..._  
 **> *<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<***  
Augusta, a not-so-ordinary, ordinary fourteen-years old, african-american girl from Florida. Before you ask, NO. She is not a timelord/lady. Breaking that trend right now. She isn't exactly human either. More like... 48% human, actually. 52%, well, you'll get there later.  
  
Anyways, after a few unfortunate events, she stumbles upon a crack in time and space, and gets sucked into the Whoniverse, where she meets the Doctor and Rose!   
  
They show her the stars, and taught many things, including how to not get killed.   
  
 **> *<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<***  
 _...Can I clear my conscience, if I'm different from the rest? Do I have to run and hide? I never said that I want this. This burden came to me, and it's made it's home inside..._  
 **> *<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<***  
  
They entrusted her to the secrets of the stars, that only a handful of people have been able to learn, but can she trust them with her secret? Even if it cost her her new life? And will they accept her for what she is?   
  
This is the story of a girl, who holds a secret to something that she can only control with a pair of gloves.   
  
If Martha was the one who left,   
  
And Donna was the one who forgot,  
  
Then meet Augusta, the one who was a monster.   
  
 **> *<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<***  
 _...A monster, a monster, I've turned into a monster. A monster, a monster, and it keeps getting stronger..._  
 **> *<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<**  
  
 _I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta._  
  
 _Please do not copy._


	2. P R O L O G U E

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta. 
> 
> Please do not copy.

 There are many things people do with their lives. Some people spend their time helping others or making the world a better place. Others like to do the opposite and build/do things that creates conflict and problems. 

I don't like either of them. 

Let's be honest, if you live in a society where people who harm the environment using things such as polluting vehicles and terrorizing others, why even try to change the world? Yes, this idea can be easily argued, but think about it. 

Is it really possible to change every single person's mentality on this planet just to match yours? 

People say that 'One person can make the world a better place' but that's not actually possible! How can one person's ideas, one person's opinions change everyone's? 

We've already been killing this planet for generations, what can you do to change that? 

So where does that leave me? 

Well, other than questioning our society, I stay with the Johnson's. They're my Foster parents. Well, that's what the government's calls them; Foster parents in the Foster family with other Foster siblings living a happy Foster life. 

Just to let you know, my life was nowhere near 'happy'. In fact, I wish it was as easy as that, but it wasn't. 

Sometimes, I wonder why people try to make the world better when there are people beside them suffering every day. I mean, you never know what's going on in someone's life. You could be riding the bus and beside you there could be someone who's just dying on the inside and really just wants a hug. They just want to be told that their loved or that they matter, but nobody does, since you're too busy trying to fix the world. 

Here's a word of advice: Let's try to focus on the people in the world that's dying before trying to fix the world because even if you fix the world, there will be nobody happy to live in it in the first place.

 


	3. C H A P T E R  O N E

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Sorry spacings a bit odd, I tried to fix it a bit.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta. 
> 
> Please do not copy.

"AUGUSTA!!" A angry  british  woman's voice yelled, snapping me out of my inner  monologue . _Oops, I hadn't hear her come in the house!_ __

 

"Coming Mrs. Johnson!" I answered, tugging off my tool belt, setting down my stuff, and running out my bedroom door, and to her. Mrs. Johnson is my Foster Mother. Her real name is Flora Johnson, but I was supposed to call her Mrs. Johnson.

I scurried into the front room where her voice was from. She stood there holding her very expensive fur coat, and expensive designer clothes. Her arms were crossed and her eyes fixated into a glare. "Where have you been all day?! I walked in the door and you weren't there to take my coat!" She pointed to the door and scolded. 

"I apologize," I said politely. "I didn't hear you enter the house." I went into the coat closet and grabbed a hanger off the rack and grabbed her coat from her and hanging it up. 

She hmph'd and walked past me, "Did you finish your chores?" She asked, graced down the hall.

"Yes I did," I answered, walking behind her, tugging nervously on the edge of my gloves, which was an old habit of mines. "I have also started preparations for dinner when Mr. Johnson gets here." She turned to the stairs, and began to walk up them. I stayed at the bottom of the steps. She nodded and left the room. 

Once her footsteps could no longer be heard, I let out a sigh. I made a mental note to check on the food in the kitchen that was -- hopefully -- cooking, and headed back to my room. Turning down the dark hallway, I opened my door, creating an ear-piercing creak, and slid into my chair at my desk. 

I glanced at my messy desk. My sketchbook was hidden under multiple sheets of rusty metal and screws. 

I tied my tool belt back around my waist and began working again. What was I making? Just a toy, really. I had gotten bored waiting for the food to cook, so I came down here to work on some toys. 

 

I've always had a... Fascination for building and making things. Whenever I had free time, I would spend it creating other little trinkets. I even made a smartphone -- kind of -- using some of the spare parts of one of Mr. Johnson's old computer her was going to toss out. It wasn't that hard really. Works just like an Apple phone, only with a few adjustments. I even have access to the app store and can download apps. 

 

Anyways, I was making a shrink ray (which, to be honest, I don't even think will work). After binge-watching Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes -- just because I was bored -- I began to like the characters Wasp and Ant-Man, because they were cool and I just like the idea of changing your molecular structure to a subatomic level. It's interesting. 

 

I even did the math on it and found out that it would work! You didn't even need a 'special serum' like Ant-Man had (I looked it up, out of curiosity), you just needed to find out how to change every single cell in your body to a smaller size, which does sound hard, but if you did it all at the same time, it's much simpler. 

 

So here I was, making little toys -- that probably won't even work. I even pulled out my phone to watch Doctor Who, my favorite show, while I worked. I had downloaded it *cough illegally cough* a while ago. I only had up to half of the 6th season of the new series, but I still liked it. It was really interesting and quickly became my favorite show. David Tennant was my favorite since he was so childish and silly. He always made me laugh. 

 

I have already seen all the episodes, but I just rewatched it over and over again. I could practically recite it, to be honest. Right now, I wasn't watching Tennant's episodes though; I was watching 'The Empty Child' (One of my favorite episodes) with the Ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston. He's a bit too serious, which I don't really like, but I don't really mind. 

 

The setting had actually been kind of peaceful, not counting the noise my phone was emitting and the sound of me molding metals together. That is until he came in. 

 

The door had just burst open, making me jump. I fumbled with my phone, to shut it off, only to find it snatched out of my hands roughly. I whipped my head around to see Mr. Johnson with an angry expression. No, angry would be an understatement. He looked furious. His face was a light red, his eyes glaring eyes burning into my head, glaringly, his hand was tight around my phone tightly. 

 

"M-Mr. Johnson!" I squeaked. Mr. Johnson A.K.A. Jackson Johnson. Foster father, wealthy man, an evil old fart in my eyes, but let's not focus on that. 

 

Let's focus on the fact that he was about to kill me. 

 

"What are you doing?!" He growled, his  british  accent was thick in his voice. I'm beginning to hate  british  accents... "You're supposed to be making dinner, not playing with this shit!" 

 

"I-I did. I started on dinner and--" I was cut off my a sharp pain erupting on my cheek, making me gasp in pain and hold my stinging cheek. I felt tears form at the corners of my eyes, but I refused to release them.

 

"SHUT UP!!" He hissed. "You're so useless! You sit on your ass all day making shit like this," he swiped his hand across my desk, making all the contents go flying on the ground. I sucked my teeth lightly, as I watched my shrink ray fall to the ground and breaking to pieces. There goes my toy... "I don't even know why we adopted your sorry ass, you're nothing but a piece of shit anyway!" 

 

His words stung, but I said nothing. My eyes trailed over to the door where Mrs. Johnson stood near the door frame, smirking evilly. She must've ratted me out, I thought grimly.

 

"...LISTEN TO ME WHEN I TALK TO YOU!!" He yelled, yanking harshly on my naturally curly, dark, dark brown hair, making me wince painfully. "We let you live in our house and eat our food, and you repay us by acting like this!?" 

 

"I-I'm sorry, Mr. Johnson, bu--" another slap on the opposite cheek and a yank on my hair. A cry of pain rose in my throat, but I bit my lip stopping it. 

 

"Get out!" He ordered, pointing towards the door. "You're a shitty bitch and don't deserve our gratitude! Get out, you ungrateful brat!" 

 

I blinked once, then twice. He wasn't serious, was he? "B-But, Mr.  Joh \--" this time, I was thrown to the floor. A shard of metal embedded itself into my skin on my arms. His thick leather boot was kicked into my stomach. I gasped in pain, and fell over, my lung emptied of air.   

 

He picked me up by my hair and dragged me against the cold wooden floors, making multiple pieces of splintered wood and metal shards enter my arms and some on my legs. Tears threatened my eyes from such pain, but I blinked them away. 

 

He finally made it to the back door of the house and tossed me out on the house like a rag doll, and unto the snowy, stone pavement. "DON'T COME BACK!!" he yelled and slammed the door loudly. 

 

I lied on the ground for a few minutes, in pain, until I finally got the strength to get up. I couldn't go back in their home, obviously. He also took my phone, which he was mostly going to break or burn. My only option was to leave, I guess. 

 

I sighed and began limping away from the house and down sidewalk behind it. I also began to pull the metal and wood out of my body as I limped, which was really hard since it hurt  alot , and I didn't have tweezers to get the deeper ones out, so I left it alone. 

 

Minutes later, the (what I assumed to be) cold winds picked up and howled loudly and what seemed to be endlessly. I shrugged them off, and trudged on, not even feeling a bit cold. 

 

I didn't mention this, but I don't get cold. Or hot. My body is always at a neutral, warmish temperature. I will explain why later. 

 

I turned the corner, limping down the sidewalk aimlessly, wondering what I was going to do now. Here I was, a fourteen-year-old girl, kicked out of her Foster home with nowhere to go. Do I go to the police? No, they'll probably just send be back anyway. Maybe I can just live by myself for a while. I mean, it wouldn't be  he  first time I've had to live off the streets. 'Sides, it's much better than going to another foster home. It's not like I can go rent a apartment or something, I'm still a minor after all.   

I sighed deeply and walked past another alley, when I noticed something strange. There was a soft white light shining down it. I stopped  I  my tracks and backtracked, and looked again, just if it was a trick of my eye. It wasn't. 

I looked around, the  streetlights  were far to rundown and old to create a light like that, and there usually weren't  streetlamps  down an alleyway. I frowned, maybe I should go check it out really  quickl \--  

WHAT AM I THINKING!? Isn't this how the bad guy/serial killers attracts their victims?!? I turned on my heel and kept limping. 

I stopped, and went back. It wouldn't hurt to check, would it? 

I shook my head firmly, I am not an idiot! I know this is how the main character dies! I'd rather not die just yet! Besides, what if it's a trap again? It was already hard enough getting out of there in the first place! I'm surprised they left me alone! 

I tugged on the edge of my rough gloves. Just one peek wouldn't hurt...

I sighed defeatedly. Fine. But if I die then... Well... I'm going to be angry! 

I smiled and went down the alley, watching the light cautiously. If I saw any shadow of any kind, then I'm booking it(as much as an injured person can)!

When I finally appeared in front of the light, I was shocked. It was a white crack-ish thing in the wall of a building. The white light was blinding, making me squint. "What the...?" I murmured, holding my hand out to the crack-ish thing. How was this thing emitting light like this...? I didn't see any sources of light at all. 

For some reason, the crack looked almost familiar, but I couldn't pinpoint it. It reminded me of something and gave me the urge to just... Touch it. 

I heard the voice in my head argue this, but I ignored it. I stuck my arm out, and lightly touched the crack. 

For a second, everything was fine. I felt no different than I did when I walked down the alley. Then suddenly, my world grew to a bright blinding white, like the crack, and engulfed me. I tried to close my eyes, but the brightness seared past it, burning my eyes to the core. 

For the first time in my life, I felt like I was burning to death, I didn't know whether to be the excited or worried. I didn't know anything, actually. I couldn't even think. My mind was as blank as my world and I felt like my stomach had been emptied, then turned inside-out and backwards. I began to freak out, hyperventilate even. 

As soon as it started, it stopped, I was breathing heavily, my eyes squeezed shut. I had been afraid to open them. I heard footsteps heading my direction, but I didn't do or say anything. I also heard someone talking, but they stopped.

The footsteps hurried up to where I was sitting on the ground, I felt someone touch my shoulder, making me flinch. I never liked being touched for... Personal reasons. "Oi, love, are you okay?" 

This voice, its familiar. Really familiar. I opened an eye, slowly and rubbed it, lightly. In front of me stood -- well squatted -- the one and only Christopher Eccleston. His eyes were looking down at me, his bright blue eyes shining with concern. 

My jaw dropped and I looked at him wide-eyed. "C-Christopher E-E-Eccleston?!" Christopher  rose  and eye to, as if he hadn't heard his name before in his life. Oh no, did I  interrupt a movie shoot or something?! I'm in  soo  much trouble!!

"What's goin' on?" Someone said behind him, which I knew was Billie Piper. "Who's that?" 

"I dunno," he answered, reaching in his coat and pulling out his all-famous sonic screwdriver and pointed it at my face. The blue light on the end of it illuminated brightly in my face. 

"She looks hurt!" Billie cried. Oh right, my body still did had metal and wood in it. My cheeks still stung also and my head was sore. Not to mention I suddenly felt utterly exhausted. "We should bring  'er  to a hospital or  somethin' !" 

Christopher brought the screwdriver to his face and frowned. He pointed it at me and repeated the process. "No use in that," he replied, "There's a Medical Bay on the TARDIS, we can use that. I can also give  'er  a full body scan that way too, since the sonic's not pickin' up 'er race."

"Then let's go!" She exclaimed. Christopher rolled his eyes, and swooped me up bridal style. Pain from earlier erupted in my chest, making me flinch. 

"Sorry," Christopher apologized as he ran into what seemed to be a blue box. The TARDIS! I was leaning against the TARDIS!??

Not giving me time to marvel at the 'alien ship', he rushed me down the hallway, with Billie close behind. 

In minutes, we reached a white/TARDIS blue room. It had hundreds of cabinets, all labeled some different, weird, writing. There was also medical-based machinery, stretchers, and hospital beds. This was obviously the Medical Bay. 

He lied me down on one  if  the beds and rushed around the room. "Doctor! Whaddaya want me to do?" Billie asked, standing right beside me. Why did she call him Doctor off camera? Unless, oh! This isn't off camera, and they're still recording somewhere! This must be some kind of prank or something, and I got caught in the middle of it.  Whoops.

"Rose, I gotta give her a shot real quick to  out  her to sleep, can you roll up 'er sleeve for me? And take off her gloves too," Christopher said, rummaging through a drawer and pulling out random things.

My blood ran cold at the word. Shot?!! Why a shot?! I felt Billie pull on my arm to roll up my sleeve, making me cringe. Instinctively, I pulled my arm close to my body, and glare at her. "Don't touch me," I hissed. 

Billie frowned and reached for me again. "C'mon, we're only tryna help you.  Lemme  roll up your sleeve so I can--" 

"No!" I interjected, hitting her hand away. I don't care if she's a celebrity or not, she's never gonna give me a shot or take off my gloves. Ever.

Her frown deepen. "Doctor! She won't let me," she complained. 

He turned around looked at me, I looked back. His face was very serious. "Let her roll up your sleeve," he ordered. "It's just a shot, it won't hurt a bit." 

"No!" I frowned. "You're not giving me anything!" Memories from past events regarding shots entered my mind, but I pushed  then  away quickly.

Christopher sighed. He pulled all his equipment over to where I was, and stood beside me. "It's just a shot, love, it's not gonna hurt." The sympathy and caring in his  british -y voice fell deaf upon my ears. 

"NO!" I protested. "Don't you need some kind of permit or something to give me a shot?! You could be shooting some kind of drug in my system for all I know! Why should I trust you?!!" I was beginning to become frustrated. I love and respect Billie Piper and Christopher Eccleston with all my hearts, but I still barely knew them. And they could always be some kind of really good cosplayers or something, so they could not be trusted. Even if they were the real ones, I still don't even know them. And even if I did, I still loathe shots so I wouldn't let them give me one. 

"You can trust 'im," Billie said calmly. "He's the Doctor." A small smile broke out on her face, but I only frowned.

"No he's not!" I retorted. "He's Christopher Eccleston!"

"Who's that?" Christopher asked, cocking an eyebrow. "I don't know a 'Christopher Eccleston'. I'm the Doctor." 

"No, your not!" I argued. "You are Christopher Eccleston, the actor who plays the Ninth Doctor. Have you hit your head of something?" 

"Listen kid," Christopher Eccleston said, his tone was now cold and no longer caring. He was beginning to sound agitated. "I know who I am. Maybe you're mixing me up with someone else. Either way, we still gotta check out these injuries, so give me your arm." 

"Never!" I said, pulling my arm away from him. I even scooted as far away from his side of the bed. "I don't want whatever is in that, in me!" I frowned and glared at the man heatedly. Like hell he was gonna stick me with that thing! I'm already traumatized by them as it is! 

For a while, we were both glaring at each other, until he broke it by gasping like he found out the secret to life, and hit his head with his hand. "That's it! You have trypanophobia! No wonder you don't want the shot!" 

"What's try-nano-phobia?" Billie asked curiously. 

"Trypanophobia. It's the fear of needles," Christopher answered. "It's very common among young human children, especially toddlers and 6-8 year olds. It is not usually taken into ones older years, and she has to be at least 13 or 14, so  its  a bit odd for someone of her age to still be afraid of them." He turned to me, his glare much softer now. "I promise you, it won't hurt a bit." 

I still frowned. "Why do you need to knock me out anyway? Why can't you just get some tweezers or something?" I asked. 

"Because, I need to put you in the full-body scanner in order to find your species," he said. "And if you're awake during it, it'll mess up the results."  

"Why don't I just tell you my race?!" I exclaimed. 

"You'll probably say human, and you're not. Well, not exactly," he said causally. "And if I find out what you are, then I can send you back to your world or help you find one."

"What are you talking about? My world is Earth," I said. Yeah, I knew that I was not exactly human anymore, but I didn't want to go to a different planet just because I wasn't 100% human. 

Besides,  its  not like he can actually take off and drop me at another planet, that's not exactly possible.

"Wait, whaddaya mean she's not human?" Billie asked. "She looks pretty human to me." 

Christopher scoffed. "'Course she does. It's the make-up in her cells that are different. She looks human, acts human, but she isn't exactly human. She's like, 48% human, 52% something else, and I wanna find out what." 

"Oh, so she's some kind of alien hybrid?" Billie asked. 

"Yeah,  somethin'  like that," Christopher confirmed. 

I was beginning to get angry. "Hey! I'm not an alien!" I yelled. This isn't fun anymore, I don't like this prank. "Let me go! I wanna go--" I couldn't say I wanted to go home, seeing as I didn't have one anymore. "I-I don't want to be here anymore! This isn't funny!" 

Christopher looked at me like I was crazy. "What do you mean 'prank' this isn't a prank. Why would this be a prank?" 

I glared at him and scoffed. "Like I would believe that I was actually in the TARDIS. This is kidnapping, you know, and I don't care if you're a celebrity or not, it's against the law!" 

Now he glared at me. "How do you know about the TARDIS? Are you a time agent? You're after my TARDIS aren't you?!" 

"What?! 'Time Agent'?! I don't even know what the hell that is! 'Sides, you running around in a bright blue box dressed up as Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper will get you a helluva lotta  whovians  at your door!"

"'Whovians'? Is that your species? I've never heard of Whovians before. Is it new?" He asked curiously. 

I groaned in exasperation. "NO! It's your FANDOM!! How do you not know about your own fandom?! You played a role of one of the most popular shows on British television!" I ranted.

"Why would I have a fandom?" Christopher asked, confusedly. 

"What?! Why wouldn't you have a fandom!? You're Christopher-friggin'-Eccleston! I'm surprised you don't have fangirls falling down and kissing the ground you walked on!" I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest. 

"I am not Christopher Eccleston," Christopher said again. "I'm the Doctor." 

"No," I shook my head, disagreeing. "You're Christopher Eccleston. You play the Doctor. If you were the Doctor then you'd be a 900 year old  timelord  with two hearts, but you're not. Your a 40-ish year old human with one heart." I'm guessing he's 40. I don't know his exact age...

He narrowed his eyes at me. "How did you know I was a  timelord ? Who are you?" 

"Dude, I just said you're not a  timelord ," I corrected crossing my arms over my chest, and painfully remembering that they were full of splinters and metal pieces. "You're human. H-U-M-A-N. Human." 

He scoffed. "Like I'd ever be one of your stupid apes," he insulted. Rose hit him on the arm, offended. "Oi! What was that for?!" 

"We're not 'stupid apes'. 'Least not all of us," She scolded. 

He sighed and rubbed his arm. "Either way, I need to give you this shot," he picked up the syringe. The needle gleamed in the light of the room, the needle had to be at least 3-4 inches long. My eyes widened, and I squirmed out of the bed, but Billie held me down by my shoulders. 

"It'll be alright, I promise," she cooed, but I was still staring at the needle. 

My heart raced and I felt like I couldn't breath. "No, no no no," I muttered, trying to move away from the man. I felt my body temperature dropping quickly. 

"Is it just me, or did it just get a bit chilly in  'ere ?" Billie asked, curiously. 

"What? That's not possible, the TARDIS Cooling system is perfect," Christopher replied, not taking his eyes off the syringe he was preparing.

"A-are you s-sure?" Billie asked, letting go of my shoulders and wrapping her arms around herself. " I f -feel like  its  freezing." The hands that were holding my shoulders were laced intricately with ice, as if it was frosted over, and it was growing up her arm. I gasped, no, not again! Not her! Not again, please!!

Christopher's eyes darted away and looked at Billie. " Wha \-- ROSE!" He drop the syringe on the ground, making it crash on the hard ground and shatter, the contents inside flowing out. He ran over to Billie who was shaking uncontrollably. Her nose was a bright red and her lips were blue like she was freezing.

"D-D-D-Doc-tor? W-why's  i - i -it s-s-s-so co-co-cold?" She stuttered. 

"Rose, are you okay?!" He asked frantically, taking her by the shoulders and rubbing her arms to generate heat, at the same time destroying the thin layer of frost growing on her arms. "Whatever you're doing to her, you'd better stop it now!" He yelled at me.

My eyes widened at my mistake and I quickly  unfroze  her. "No shots..." I muttered, bring my knees to my chest. "No shot please... No more shots..." I can't believe I almost froze her to death. I'm almost killed someone else. I almost killed her! I'm horrible! I'm a murderer! I'm a monster...

Christopher grabbed me by my shoulders and made me face him. His striking blue eyes were set in reproachful glare and he was angry. Really angry. "What are you doing to her?!" He hissed, shaking my shoulders as if that was going to help her. "Fix her! Now!" 

"I-I'm sorry," I whimpered, fear coursing throughout my body. "I'm so, so sorry. Please, don't hurt me... Don't... Don't touch me, or... Or you'll get hurt too... I'm sorry..." I felt tears prick my eyes and my heart raced with fear. I hurt her. I hurt Billie Piper! I almost killed her!! "She-She'll b-be okay, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt her, I swear! It-It-- That just... I-I can't control it s-sometimes. I'm so sorry! P-please don't h-hurt me." I sunk my head in my knees, and began to cry uncontrollably. Memories of them flying through my head. They kept touching me and laughing. They always laughed. I screamed and they laughed at me.   

"I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt anyone else I swear! I-I just don't want a-anymore shots! I-I hate the shots... I don't-I don't want anymore, please no more! I'm so sorry..." I cried, making my jeans and long sleeves wet. I want to go. This isn't funny anymore, I don't want to be here. 

"Doctor! Doctor, I'm fine!" Billie cried, making him stop. Her voice was no longer shaky and she wasn't shivering. A little piece of me was happy that I hadn't accidentally killed her.

"Rose, are you alright?!" He asked, frantically.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit cold," she answered. 

He sighed and let my shoulder go, and backed away as I sobbed. "I... I didn't mean to scare you, I'm sorry..." He tried to say, but I didn't listen or respond to him.

"Doctor, maybe you should go... Ya know, leave us girls to talk," Billie suggested. 

"... Fine... I'll... wait in the console room," he said reluctantly, and left the room, leaving us two. 

For a few minutes, none of us said anything, leaving a bit of a awkward silence in the atmosphere. "I don't wanna be here anymore," I finally said, breaking the long silence. 

"Where are your parents? I'm sure the Doctor will be more than happy to leave you with 'em," she said. 

I didn't answer immediately. "I... Why did you bring me here?" I asked her, changing the subject. 

"You were hurt," she shrugged. "Couldn't just look past that." 

"You could've left me, I would've found my way around," I said coldly. "Why didn't you?" 

"You're just a kid," she explained. "It's not right for a kid your age being out like that. 'Sides, you remind me of one of me mate's kids." She walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. "What's your name, anyway? I'm--" 

"Billie Piper. Or Rose Tyler since you guys are acting like Doctor Who characters," I finished. She rose an eyebrow.

"'Doctor Who'? What's that?" She asked. I rolled my eyes. 

"What do you mean, 'what's that'?" I asked, mimicking her voice perfectly. "It's a TV show! You're  british , you should know."    


"I'm sorry, but I've never heard of any 'Doctor Who'," she shrugged. "I still didn't get your name." 

"Augusta," I said. 

"Augusta...?" She asked, referring to my last name. 

"Just Augusta." 

"Okay, then Augusta," she smiled, using my name for the first time. "I'm Rose Tyler. Nice to meet ya," she held out her hand for me to shake, but I only looked at it. She laughed. "You know, you're supposed to shake it," she teased. She grabbed my hand, but I pulled it away quickly, just in case she wanted to stick a needle in me again. 

Her smile faltered as she put her hand back to her side. "Okay then, Augusta. You're from America, right?" I nodded. "Where's your parents? Did you get separated?" 

"No," I answered. 

"Do they know where you are?" She quizzed.

"... No..." 

"Why not? Are you coming up to visit some family or something?"

"No." 

"Then how'd you get to London?" 

"I... Don't know..." I frowned. How did I get to London? I was in the alley not a half hour ago. All I did was touch that crack and then BAM! I'm in London! 

"Whaddaya mean you don't know?" She asked with a frown. 

"I just... Don't know... I was in Florida not too long ago, and then I woke up here with Christopher Eccleston staring me in the face." 

"You mean the Doctor," she corrected. 

"No I-- you know what. Whatever, I mean the Doctor," I sighed, too exhausted to argue with her. 

"So... What happened to you?" She asked.

"Oh, you mean this," I pointed to my scratched up arms. "I was... Working and then got in a bit of an accident," I lied. "Do you have any tweezers?" 

'Rose' rose an eyebrow, but went over to the small desk-thing and picked up a pair of silver tweezers and handed them to me. I nodded thankfully, and began to pick out all the small pieces of metal/wood in my arms and legs

While I worked, Rose didn't saw anything, she just watched me. When I finished, she cleared her throat awkwardly. "Okay... Are you ready for us to help you now?" 

My face fell, and I got ready to move away from her. "You're not gonna... Give me a shot again, are you...?" 

"I dunno. That's for the Doctor to decide. If you need one then he'll have to give you a shot, sorry." 

I frowned and felt tears prick my eyes. "Do-Do I really need a shot? I-I mean, I'll be fine and there must be some other way to scan me or something." I bit my lip and played with the edge of my gloves nervously. 

Rose saw must've saw my nervousness and frowned. "Do you wanna come and ask 'im? I'm sure he can find some other way to scan you," she gave me a comforting smile, but it barely helped my anxiety. 

"Okay..." I said hesitantly. It wasn't like he could actually scan me for alien life anyway. He would probably just take out some kind of prop or something. 

"Do you wanna come with me to see him now?" She asked me and I shrugged. "Are you okay to walk?" 

My exhaustion from earlier had long wore off and my arms only dully throbbed and stung when I touched it, and at the most were just lightly bleeding. My chest was hurting too, I could tell that it had been bruised. My cheeks stung too, but not that much.

"I'll manage," I answered with a small shrug. I swung my legs off the side of the bed, and stood up shakily on the floor. My knees buckled under me, making me fall, but Rose caught my arms.

"Whoa there," she said, pulling me up, but I pushed her arms off me. 

"Don't touch me," I warned, holding on to the side of the bed for support. 

"Okay..." She slowly, backing away from me. I sighed and forced myself to stand up and make my legs work. Forcing one foot after another, I made myself walk over slowly and down the hallway. 

"Are you good?" Rose asked as I slowly walked. 

"I'll be fine," I answered emotionlessly, and walked as fast as I could down the hallway. Rose said nothing and nodded, leaving the two of us to walk in silence. 

When we arrived to the console room, Chr-- the Doctor was pacing back and forth, nervously. When he saw us a multitude of emotions flashed on his face mainly being relief and guilt. 

"You're back!" He exclaimed. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry that I scared you, I'll make up for it, I promise! Are you still hurt? I won't give you any shots, I'll find some other way to scan you. Are you mad at me? I'm so sorry about that, I was just worried and--" 

"Doctor!" Rose interrupted with a laugh. "Let her talk first." 

He nodded and looked down at me, making me suddenly feel nervous. "Right, sorry," he apologized -- again.

"Um... I'm fine-ish. I'm not really hurt, just stinging at bit from all the splinters and stuff... And I'm not mad at you either, I just don't like shots..." I answered in a small voice, playing with the edge of my gloves, and feeling a bit intimidated by him from what happened earlier. He really scared me, and reminded me of them, which scared me even more. 

He frowned. "You're not scared of me... Are you?" He asked. 

"N-not at all!" I lied. "I was just worried that you were going to give me a shot again or something..." I trailed off, and his frown deepened. 

"You're lying," he frowned. "You are scared of me..." 

My eyes widened in surprise. I didn't want him to feel bad. "I'm not lying," I lied. "I'm not scared of you, I promise!" I felt kind of bad, lying straight at his face, but it was just a little white lie, so it didn't matter. 

He stared at me for a second before showing off his signature grin. "Okay, then let's go on a quick adventure!" He cheered, rushing over to the console. "Where would you like to go... Uh, what's your name?"    


"Augusta," I answered, walking over to him. 

"Okay then Augusta,  lets  go on a adventure! Where would you like to go?" He asked. 

"Uh... How about... Ancient Greece?" I shrugged, saying the first thing that came to mind. It's not like he can actually fly the TARDIS, it's just a prop in a TV show. Right when he pulls the 'go' switch, all the cameras are going to come out. 

"You feelin' up for Ancient Greece?" He asked Rose, who shrugged. 

"Always wanted to wear a toga," she said, a grin stretching out on her features.

The Doctor grinned wildly and ran around the console, pulling lever and pressing buttons before setting on one big lever. "Next stop: Ancient Greece!" 


	4. C H A P T E R  T W O

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To Ancient Greece!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta. 
> 
> Please do not copy.

Chapter Two:

The Doctor grinned wildly and ran around the console, pulling lever and pressing buttons before setting on one big lever. "Next stop: Ancient Greece!" 

*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*<*>*<*>*<*

Augusta's POV

He pulled the lever and instantly the room began shaking wildly, pushing us left and right. The tubes on the top of the console began to go up and down. The sound of whooshing filled the air. I fell to the side and held on to the metal railing for dear life. My eyes were wide with shock. How is this even possible?! The TARDIS isn't actually real! It's just a prop on a TV show! I thought frantically.

After a few minutes of intense rumbling, the TARDIS stopped moving, signaling our 'arrival'. I was holding on the rail breathing heavily and my eyes were as wide as saucers. 

"You alright?" Rose asked, holding out her hand for me to take. I stared at it for a second before getting up myself and brushing myself off. 

"I'm fine," I mumbled and cleared my throat awkwardly. "So... Where are we?" 

"Just like you asked, Ancient Greece," the Doctor said and pointed to the door, with a huge grin. "Outside this doors is 530 A.D. Athens, Greece," pride shone in his voice, giving me the urge to roll my eyes.

I gave him the 'seriously' look. I knew that this was all a hoax, he couldn't have actually went back in time(although the shaking was very good. I'll hand it to them, it felt very realistic). 

I went to go look out the door anyway, knowing that when I went outside it would just be the some London street, and I could leave. 

When I opened the door, I was nothing short of shocked. Outside the sun shone brightly, making me squint. People were scurrying around quickly, a loose chicken ran by my foot, making me jump back, people chatting loudly filled the air along with the squeals of animals and the cries of children. 

Someone placed a hand on my shoulder and I jumped, moving at least five feet away from them. When I saw that it was the Doctor, I frowned. "Don't touch me..." I mumbled, moving back over to where he was. 

He didn't seem to notice because he was frowning at nothing. He brought a licked-finger up and put it to the air. "Just as I thought, this is Ancient Rome, not Ancient Greece," he groaned in realization, obviously upset.

I shrugged, "Close enough."

"Yeah," Rose agreed, coming out of the TARDIS. "It's still 'ancient', and I get to wear a toga." 

A smile broke out on his face, and he clapped his hands together loudly. "Okay then! Ancient Rome! Time to explore!" He cheered, making Rose giggle. 

"I wanna go get dressed up," she announced, "Do you wanna come with me?" She asked me. 

I blinked, not understanding her question. "Dressed up for what?" 

"For Rome, duh," she explained.

"Oh, um, I'll stay here..." I declined, not wanting to wear a robe. I was perfectly fine with what I had anyway. Besides, I wasn't comfortable with others seeing me get dressed. Rose's excited smile fell, making me feel really guilty for telling her 'no'. 

"Oh, okay. I'll go then," a forced smile replaced her old one. "Don't do anything until I get back, ya hear?" She warned and left into the TARDIS. 

Rose's footsteps echoed down the TARDIS, leaving us outside. I stood there, feeling very awkward. "So..." I said, trying to start a conversation. 

"Why did you choose Ancient Greece?" The Doctor asked curiously. 

I rose and eyebrow at his question but shrugged. "I've always wanted to go to Ancient Greece," I answered. I wasn't lying. I remember when I was younger, I had found a brochure-thing about Ancient Greece. I didn't know it was actually 'Ancient Greece' back then. I couldn't even read the words on it, in fact, I never did get to actually read it. But, the pictures always made me  thing  it was a fairytale. I always wanted to see it after that, but I didn't even know what it was called. It was later that I found out that it was Ancient Greece. 

"What made you like it so much?" He asked. 

"Oh, uh... It was just... Pretty? I dunno, I just like it, I guess." I began to fiddle with the end of my gloves, feeling extremely awkward. 

He hummed in agreement and nodded. Then serious look crossed his face and he looked down at me, analytically. "What was that, that you did to Rose earlier?" 

I cringed at the question. "What was what?" I asks, playing dumb. 

"Don't act like you don't know," he frowned. "Rose was freezing, her temperature dropped at least 15 degrees. There was ice growing up her arm. She almost froze to death when she touched you."

I looked down, finding my shoes very interesting and fiddled with my gloves even more. "I... It was nothing... I'm sorry..." 

I felt the Doctor's cold gaze burn into my skull. "In the 900 years that I traveled, I've never seen something like that before," he continued. "Do you mind telling me what that was?" 

"It's nothing," I repeated, feeling very uncomfortable. I don't want him to think I was a monster yet. I just met him, it's too early for him to know. If he finds out now, then I might never get to get back. He would take me away, just like the rest of them, and test on me. I shuddered at the thought of being prodded with needles again. The sound of them laughing at my screams filled my ears. I didn't want that to happen again, I don't want to go back to them. I don't want to be hurt again. I don't want-- 

"Augusta!" The Doctor called loudly, snapping out of my terrifying thoughts. I looked up to see him standing beside Rose, who looked like a proper Greek woman. Almost exactly like the pictures on the brochure. They both looked ready to leave. "Are you coming or not?" 

"Oh... Yeah," I nodded, discarding my previous thoughts for later, and ran over to them. "So, where to first?" 

"I'm thinkin'... Coliseum?" Rose said excitedly. "Cos, I always wanted to see the Coliseum!" 

The Doctor grinned, "Coliseum it is!" He took our hands -- although I promptly yanked mine back -- and ran off. A small smile broke out on my face and  and  followed him. I looked over my shoulder, to get a good look at the TARDIS before we left. The TARDIS was almost invisible in the immense crowd. With people walking back and forth, I couldn't see the ship fully. For a second, there was a stone  statute  standing beside it, making me stop in my tracks. Was that a...? 

"Augusta," Rose called behind me, making me tear my eyes away and look at her. "Ya comin'?" 

"Yeah," I answered looking back for a second, but nothing was there. Maybe I'm just paranoid, I thought turned back and catching up with the others. There's no way there could be a Weeping Angel in Rome. 

"So, Augusta," The Doctor began. "Where do you wanna go?" 

"Oh, uh... I don't know," I shrugged. "I don't really know any places in Rome..." 

"There's some other places, like the Pantheon or the Parthenon," the Doctor suggested. "Would you like to go there?" 

"I guess," I shrugged, not really knowing what a Pantheon was. "What's a Paneon?" 

"The Pantheon," he corrected. "It's a temple in Rome. Build during Augustus'  rein ." 

"Who's Augustus?" I asked. 

"He's a Roman emperor. Didn't you learn this in school?" He frowned. 

"Of course," I said quickly, crossing my arms over my chest defensively. "I just... Forgot... So, how long until we reach this 'Coliseum'." I asked, changing the subject.

"It should be near it soon," he said, turning down the street. "Have you ever seen the Coliseum?"

"No," I answered. I really had no idea what a 'Coliseum' was, so I didn't know what to expect. 

"Good, that adds to the excitement," he grinned, and stopped in his tracks, and looked back at the two of us. "Behind this corner lies the great Coliseum of Rome," he said dramatically. "Are you ready?" 

I nodded, a small smile crawling on my face. "Yea!" Rose cheered, very eager to see it. 

The Doctor grinned, let us walk around the corner, letting us see the grand building. When I saw it, I was surprised. The building was made fully of stone and looked to be a circle, I think. The entire building had half-oval-ish holes on it, and the ones on the floor was filled with people trying to get into the building. 

"What do you think?" He asked us. 

"It's amazing," Rose awed. 

"What about you, Augusta?" He asked, turning to me. "What do you think?" 

"It's... It's..." Unreal? Spectacular? Beautiful? I don't know. I didn't know what to say or think. I've never seen anything like it. "I dunno," I finally answered not taking my eyes off it. I could feel the Doctor's disappointment of my answer. 

"'I dunno'? What do you mean 'I dunno'?" He asked skeptically. 

"I just... Don't know," I said. "I've never--" I tore my eyes away from the building and looked at him, but instantly regretted it. 

Behind the Doctor, on the side of the wall, was a stone angel. A Weeping Angel.  It's hands were covering its eyes, but it was peeking over its hands, and staring straight at me. 

I gasped, my eyes went wide, but I didn't take my eyes off the stone angel. "Hm? 'I've never' what?" Doctor asked, obvious to the quantum locked creature behind him. "I never really liked the Coliseum, to be honest. It's kinda boring, and I never like the gladiator fighting, don't ya think?" 

"I... I..." I stammered, my eyes beginning to water from not blinking. Then someone walked by, covering the angel and making it disappear from my sight. As soon as it left, I exhaled deeply. 

"Is something wrong?" Doctor asked, hearing me. "Are you okay? You seem to be zoning out  alot . If there's something bothering you, then just tell me." 

I looked up at him for a second, but shook my head, no. I didn't want him worrying about something like a Weeping Angel. The last thing we needed was a stressed, angry Doctor. Besides, he seems like he's in such a good mood, I don't want to be the one to ruin it with bad news. And it was just one angel, what could go wrong?  "No, everything's fine," I lied, hoping he bought it. "I was just thinking."

He looked at me for a second, but smiled. "Great. Well then, let's go see a Coliseum!" He cheered, and ran in front of the long line, with Rose and I following just behind him. 

Cutting everyone behind him, he made it to the front where there was a man sitting at a desk, collecting money. "Hello there," he greeted, flashing his physic paper. "I'm the Doctor, and these are my plus two. When does the show start?" 

"O-Oh, uhm, if you don't mind me asking my Lord, shouldn't you be entering with the other  royals ?" He asked. "Why are you entering with the pheasants?" 

"I just like a change of scenery me," he replied nonchalantly. "Anyways, when does the who start?" He asked again. 

"It is scheduled to start at noon, my lord," the man answered. "I will have one of my men escort you and your mistress to your seat." He motioned for one of the guards standing on the side to come over frantically, and gave them instructions to take the Doctor and Rose to where the  royals  sat. 

He and Rose began to walk away, with me trailing behind silently. Suddenly, there were two large, pointy spears blocking my path, and separating me from the two. "Hey! What are you doing?!" I yelled, making the duo turn around.

The smile the Doctor had on his face dissipated. "Oi, she's with me," he said threateningly. 

"I apologize my Lord, but we cannot allow servants or slaves on the royal balcony," the man explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The Doctor frowned, "She's not a servant or a slave, she's my companion and she's under my care."

"I apologize, but those are the rules. We cannot allow someone of its kind on the balcony," he insisted. 

The Doctor's eyes narrowed, "Listen here, she is not an 'it' she is a she. A living human being with a beating heart; you will never call her and it! She is my responsibility and--" 

"Doctor!" I interrupted, making both heads turn my direction. "It's fine, I'll be okay. You guys go ahead, I'll meet you after the show." The man glared heatedly at me.

"Augusta, you don't have to--" Rose began, but I shook my head. 

"It's fine, I know how much you wanted to see this. Go on ahead and have a good time," I gave her a small, reassuring smile. "I'll meet you two after the show, okay?"

The Doctor looked very reluctant to leave me, but sighed. "Fine, but don't get into any trouble. And don't wander off after the show. I promise I'll get you afterwards," he said. "Meet us here once it's done." 

"Got it," I nodded. "See you then," I said and waved to them as they left, with a smile. As soon as they couldn't be seen, I was roughly dragged to the ground. 

"Take her to the other slaves," the man spat, he meek appearance long gone. "Hurry up, before he changes his mind and tries to come back and create more trouble." The guards nodded, understandingly, and picked me up by my shoulders. I cringed at their physical contact, as they dragged me to the back of immense line. 

"Stay there," he warned me slowly, as if I couldn't understand English, and dropped me in the scalding sun that was beginning to tan my already-dark skin. 

"Yeah, whatever," I mumbled, picking myself off the ground and brushing off the dirt. He gave me a dirty look before walking away. I  sighed , the line wasn't that long, really. In fact, it wasn't actually a 'line' at all, it was just a jumble of people trying to get into one door. It's still going to take a while until I get to the front. I sighed again, taking a step forwards. 

Suddenly, I slipped on something, and fell to the side, "Ah!" I cried, before I hit something that broke my fall. My butt fell roughly on the ground, sorely. "Ow..." 

"Watch where you're falling, slave !" A young voice exclaimed. 

I scoffed getting up, "Shut up, brat," I countered, getting up. "It's not my fault you were in the way!" I looked up at the kid to see a boy who was at least 12 or 13 years old. He wore a robe thing, similar to what Rose wore, but more... Guy-ish? It was lightly-caked with dirt on his backside where he fell. His 'robes' were a bright purple. He had light blonde hair and forest-green eyes. His arms were crossed over his chest angrily. He had to be at least a half head shorter than me. 

"'Brat'?!" He repeated, shocked. "A slave should never speak of their superior in such manner! I should cut out your tongue for that!" 

I rolled my eyes, and turned my back on the bratty  kid . "Whatever brat. Go rule over your little sandcastle kingdom somewhere else." 

"Do not turn your back on me!" He exclaimed. "I will contact your Master for this!" 

I looked over my shoulder, and rose and eyebrow. "Sure, good luck with that," I snickered. "While your at it, you should go get your little toy  soliders !" I teased. 

The boy scowled, "Then I shall," he clapped his hands loudly, and a minute later, five buff-looking soldiers marched over, and stood in front of him. I blinked in surprise at the large men. "How do you like my toy soldiers now?" 

Each one of them glared down at me, with equal ferocity. "Yes, your majesty? What is it that you acquire?" The tallest -- and largest -- one asked, his voice so deep that it rumbled in his voice, adding to his intimidating appearance. 

"This slave was speaking ill of me," he announced, making a few heads turn our way. 

"Would you like us to cut out its tongue?" Another asked, going for his sword. 

The boy thought for a moment, "No, that will not be necessary. As a punishment, it shall be brought into the lion's den for a public execution in the Coliseum!" This made a few gasps and murmurs fall throughout the crowd. My eyes went wide, did he say LION'S den!? 

"What shall we tell its Master?" The first one asked. 

"We shall give him compensation for the casualty," the boy answered. "With a loud-mouthed slave like this, he surely must have wanted it off his hands." 

The boy rose his head high with authority. "Take it away," he ordered, and instantly my hands were grabbed. 

"Yes, Lord Flavius," they answered robotically, dragging me to god-knows-where. 

"Let go of me!" I protested as I was dragged against my will, but they thought nothing of it. After a few minutes of struggling, I stopped and let them drag me. 

While we were going into the building, I saw two life-sized Weeping Angels standing at the entrance, covering their hands with their faces. I gasped, there was only one earlier, I thought frantically and looking back behind me after we had passed them, but they were gone. Nobody else seemed to notice the stone statue.

This is bad, this is really, really bad! There wasn't just one Angel, there was two, and I bet there was going to be more than just that! 

Think  think  think! Weeping Angels feast off of time energy of the people after sending them forwards or backwards in time, right? But if there was more than just two angels, then there had to be here for some reason. Why the Coliseum? What was so good about it...? 

Wait! If the Weeping Angels are here in a swarm, then they would want a large crowd. My mind trailed back to the large crowd of people in the front of the stone building. That had only been one entrance. What if there had been multiple crowds of people coming through all the entrances? 

I wonder... Just how many people this Coliseum could fit...  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

Doctor's POV 

He had been really reluctant to leave Augusta on her own. 

He noticed that she had been zoning out the whole time ever since they had left the TARDIS. As if she was watching out for something. Maybe she was watching out for Time Agents, he thought. Maybe she had been a runaway Time Agent, and she was watching out for them, just in case. 

That would make sense, he had saw earlier that her cells had been disrupted greatly, like a time traveler's would, but it hadn't been from the use of a Vortex Manipulator. When he scanned her with his sonic, he saw that she was covered in Void particles! As if she had bathed in it! 

That isn't right, he thought. No human should be able to cross through the Void. Not even the Time Lords had accomplished parallel dimension traveling. 

But she wasn't human, he reminded himself. Not exactly, at least. She did have Human DNA, 48% of it was human in fact, but the other 52%? He had no clue. That irritated him, that he didn't know. If she had been some kind of hybrid, then his sonic screwdriver would have picked up on it immediately, but for some reason, it had trouble picking up hers. As if the other 52% didn't even exist.

And then there was earlier when she had nearly froze Rose to death! He had not a single clue where that was from. Nobody could've naturally done that, it was impossible. He hadn't heard of a race that could freeze other being with a single touch. Although, he did visit one world where the ground was so cold, a single touch would freeze your limb off that touched it. 

Definitely not going to take either one of them there... 

He sighed, she also doesn't like it when others touch her physically and she was terrified of getting a shot. It has to be some kind of post-traumatic stress. Maybe it has something to do with the hand-shaped bruises on her face and the condition that they found her in. 

He suddenly felt even worse for shaking her so violently earlier, he must've brought back some bad memories. He had just been so worried about Rose, she had literally almost froze to death in a minute. He didn't want to lose another companion, especially when he had just gotten her. This was only her second adventure, there was so much he wanted to show her. 

Even so, he shouldn't have been so violent. It wasn't like him to get angry so quickly, even if he had been worried, there were other ways to solve that, and making a fourteen-year old girl cry wasn't one of them. 

He felt... Ashamed. He was supposed to be the Doctor, the Oncoming Storm, the Last of the Timelords. He brought hope to those who needed it, or death to those who deserved it. He could do all this, but he couldn't stop a girl from crying? 

He had kids once, but they never acted like she was. She seemed so broken when he saw her. She was hurt. She was in pain. She was terrified of him. The look of absolute terror burned through his mind. He didn't want her to look at him like that. He wanted her to trust him, but how could she if she refused to even hold his hand, much less trust him. 

"Doctor," Rose called, bringing him out of his thoughts. 

"Yes, is everything alright?" He asked, giving her his attention. 

"You seemed a bit out of it. You were thinking about Augusta, weren't you?" She asked. The Doctor was a bit surprised that she had been able to read him so easily. Usually, he was hard to read. 

"Yeah," he answered. "I'm just a bit worried. Anything could happen to 'er. She could be hurt, or kidnapped or--" 

Rose giggling interrupted his moment of panic, and he frowned. "What's so funny?" He asked skeptically. 

"You sound like a worried parent," she giggled. Her laughter sounded like jingling bells, which made him smile. 

He had to admit, Rose was really beautiful. For a human. 

He felt like his worries fly away, as he watched her laugh. "Do I really?" 

"Yeah!" She laughed, making him chuckle. "Don't worry 'bout her, okay? She'll be fine." 

That last statement reminded him of his problems. "But what if she isn't," he argued. "She could be in all kinds of trouble and--" he was cut off by the sound of loud trumpets, signaling the start of the show. 

They both turned to look down at the show, the balcony had given them a good spot to watch. The first two people to come out were two large gladiators as they fought to the death. 

It was a very intense battle that had everyone on the edge of their seats. Well, except him since he had seen better and compared to that, this was boring. 

Yet Rose seemed to somewhat like it, which he was fine with. He hoped that Augusta liked it too, wherever she was. 

"Did you hear about the people disappearing?" A female voice said behind him, perking his interests. 

"Yes, I hope they solved it," someone else replied, who was also female. "It would be a shame for something to happen during the games." 

He turned around to look at the two ladies, who wore clothing similar to Rose's. "Hello ladies," he greeted with a grin. "If you don't mind, what are you talking about with people 'disappearing'?" 

The ladies looked down at him in confusion. "And who might you be?" 

He inwardly sighed. It was typical of a human to be suspicious of someone, even if they're just asking a friendly question. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his physic paper and flashed it at the women. "There see, I'm," he took a glance at the paper. "John Smith,  roman  authority. Now, do you mind explaining these missing persons?" 

"Of-Of course sir," the first lady stammered. "You see, there has been these disappearances of people lately. They seem to be usually in big crowds like these," she gestured to the rest of the stadium. 

"A-and, they just disappear in broad daylight too," the other lady added. 

"And the scary thing is," the first lady began with a low voice. "Is that it's not just one person; its big hoards of people!" The lady laughed airily. "Can you believe that? Entire crowds of people disappearing in thin air?" 

His eyes narrowed, hoards of people disappearing? This isn't right, maybe it has something to do with what Augusta was so worried about earlier. He nodded thankfully to the women and turned back around. 

" Wha's  all that about?" Rose asked curiously. 

He crossed his arms over his chest and sank into his chair. "Apparently, there has been people disappearing. Big entire groups of them, just vanishing!" 

"Were they kidnapped?" She asked. 

"No, no, they couldn't kidnap entire groups of people and get away with it," he mumbled. "Think about that, an entire group of people, vanishing in thin air."

"Remember on Platform One? How she teleported away. Maybe that's what they're doing," Rose suggested, referring to Cassandra, 'the Last Human', as she had called herself. 

"No, no," he shook his head. "I would've picked-up on something like that. They would've been using a huge signal to get that many people, and I would've traced it by now. Nice idea though," he added quickly, making her smile. 

His sighed, and looked down at the area. Apparently, they had been feeding slaves to lions now. He really didn't like this era, killing off innocent people for their own entertainment. It was sick. 

The man got eaten quickly by the starving lion, so they brought out the next person. This one was a girl, who looked about 14-years old. She had huge curly hair, wore a gray sweatshirt and jeans. Her hands, while bonded by rope, had been concealed by black gloves. 

She almost reminded him of Augusta. 

She looked up at the crowd, as if to survey it. He saw her take a deep breath, and bring her hands to her mouth, "DOCTOR!" She screamed, making him jump. "THE ANGELS! IT'S THE WEEPING ANGELS!!!" 

His eyes widened, oh Rassilion, it had been Augusta. 

He gripped the edge of the balcony, looking down at her as she pointed to the side of the arena. His eyes slowly widened as he saw at least ten or twenty Weeping Angels standing off to the side. Why hadn't he had seen it before?! It must've been a perception filter! He thought frantically, and shot up from his seat.

"'S that Augusta?!" Rose asked, moving closer, to get a better look. "Oh god, it is Augusta!" 

He grabbed Rose's hand, "C'mon," he said getting up and rushing past people. She said Angels. Weeping Angels. That must've been what she had been looking at earlier. He was so thick! Of course it was those bloody Angels. The groups of disappearing people! Why didn't he realize sooner!? If there were Angels here, then everyone in this building was in grave danger.

"What are we doing now?" Rose asked as I dragged her down the seemingly endless flights of stone stairs. 

"Saving Augusta. Saving the human race. Stopping all the Weeping Angels," he answered quickly as he fled down the steps. 

"Fantastic," Rose smiled, making me grin. "One question: What  'xactly  are 'Weepin' Angels'?" 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

Augusta's POV

I'll admit, this hadn't been my best position. I mean, fighting a lion, I can live with that, but fighting Weeping Angels while doing so?  No  so much.

With a lion trying to eat me in front of me, and Weeping Angels standing around the sides, my chances of surviving weren't very high. My hands were tied, literally. 

The lion roared at me again, making me jump back. " Lets  think of the bright side," I mumbled. "How many people had defeated a lion and Weeping Angels at the same time?" 

Something told me, that not many people had done so... 

The lion roared once more, and lunged at me, so I sidestepped. "Hey, kitty! Shut the hell up a second, I'm trying to think!" I hissed at the starving animal, but it didn't listen, and lunged at me again, so I moved again. 

Luckily for me, the Angels hadn't taken a move yet, they just seemed to be watching and waiting for something. I glanced at the few Angels on the side, that just seemed to stand there, doing nothing. 

I saw the lion lunge at me again, so I jumped. His teeth snagged my arm, ripping my long-sleeved shirt, and grazing my arm deeply. I hissed in pain and moved away from the creature, holding my arm. "Shit," I cursed under my breathe. 

I panted heavily and examined my arm, which blood was just  pooling  out of. I was beginning to get exhausted, and that wasn't stopping the lion any. This needed to end so I could stop the Angels, and fast. 

I glared at the hungry creature, I could tell it was excited by the smell of my blood, because he was beginning to get more violent and desperate. 

It lunged again, snapping it jaw at me, but I ran to the side. The lion growled and kept lunging at me, and I kept dodging. I knew I couldn't dodge it forever, because my movements were beginning to slow down. Unfortunately, the lion's wasn't. 

When he lunged at me again, he snagged my good arm, and almost bit it clean off, but I got it out of his grasp before he did so. 

I was breathing heavily, both my arms now completely useless. The lion bowed down, getting ready to take the finishing blow, and I closed my eyes, giving up. I could hear the crowds of people cheering loudly, encouraging the lion to kill me.

Right when I thought the I was going to die, an ear-piercing whirring sound filled the air. I snapped open my eyes and grabbed my ears in pain. The sound was deafening and it echoed throughout my ears. 

I cried pain and fell to my knees, I felt a warm substance trickle on my hands. "Stop," I begged, "Make it stop." 

I saw the lion roar loudly, as if it were in pain too, and fall to the ground. I watched in horror as the lion fell to the ground and his breathing slowed to a stop. He was... Dead...

The whirring stopped, and I heard footsteps entering my direction. "AUGUSTA!" they screamed. Suddenly, I was in the hold of a man. I looked up to see it was the Doctor. He was examining my arms, pointing his screwdriver at the wounds made by the lion. A whirring sound emitted from it. I realized that it was the same whirring sound from earlier. 

"Augusta are you okay?" Rose asked as he moved to the next arm. She grabbed my shoulders, the look of worry flooding her face. I suppressed a cringe at her contact. "Are you  bleedin'  anywhere else? Wait, your ears! Why are your ears  bleedin' ? Doctor, 'er ears are  bleedin' !" She announced. The Doctor looked away from my arms and at my face, mainly my ears. 

"They are," he mumbled, pointing his screwdriver at them, and reading it. "Eardrum damage," he confirmed with a frown. "How do you have eardrum damage? A lion's roar shouldn't be loud enough to give you eardrum damage."

"D-Doctor," I groaned, trying to push away from his uncomfortable grip, but he wouldn't budge. "The A-Angels..." 

His head whipped around to look at the ten or twenty angels, their hands were outstretched as claws, their mouths showing off their fangs. They were coming our way. 

I think the crowd began to see them, because people began to point and scream at the Angels. A few of them were even running. "This isn't that bad," he muttered, "The Angels broke their perception filter, so the crowd can see them. They'll keep watching them, so the Angels can't move, but not forever."

"What about them?" Rose asked, motioning to the soldiers who had brandished weapons and had angry looks on their faces. 

"Oh, not good," he answered, looking for a place to run, and spotting an empty door near the side. "Run," he warned Rose and picking me up bridal style. 

The two of them raced out the door, escaping the  roman  guards, but they began chasing after us as well. 

I tried to squirm out of his grasp, but his icy cold glare made me stop. I looked behind us to see the Roman soldiers still in pursuit. "Doctor they're still following us," I announced. I saw his grit his teeth, stressfully and run faster.

There was no way were  were  going to out run these Roman soldiers, and if we did, then we still had the Weeping Angels to worry about. I could always freeze the ground and make the others slip and fall, but I didn't want to hurt the Doctor. 

Suddenly, the Doctor stopped, and set me down on my feet. My eyes widened when I saw that we were completely surrounded by the Weeping Angels, their hands outstretched and their mouths opened. The  roman  soldiers had disappeared, but I'm guessing that they had been taken by the angels. 

Okay, not that bad, now we don't  gave  murderous Romans on our tail, I thought optimistically. "What do we do, Doctor?" Rose asked fearfully. 

"I'm thinking," he muttered, his face serious and he didn't take his eyes off the Angels. "Okay, were surrounded by Angels who can kill us at any time, why aren't they?" 

I frowned and stared back at the angels, just now noticing something. "Doctor, they're--" 

"Staring at you, I noticed," he answered, he was right. All the angels had their faces and hands pointed at me, but they didn't do anything. Like they were waiting. "But why? What's so important about you?" He seemed really frustrated, and I could tell that he was getting tired of not blinking. 

I frowned, think, think! What was there that we could use?! We were in a pretty open area, there was no shops or anything beside or around as from earlier. It seemed pretty empty except for the angels surrounding us. Maybe if I--

"Augusta, do you trust me?" The Doctor asked, breaking me out of my thoughts. 

"What?" Why was he asking something like that in at time like this?!

"I need you to trust me because I'm going to do something crazy, but it might just work," he said. 

I frowned, do I trust him? I mean, he's the Doctor, anyone else would trust him in a heartbeat, so why am I hesitating? Maybe it's because I don't trust him. Maybe my opinion of the Doctor changed from earlier to now. So much has happened, but it hasn't really given me a reason to not trust him. He came to save me from that lion earlier, he tried to help me when I was hurt, he brought me here as an apology. Besides when he scared me earlier, he hadn't really given me a reason to not trust him. If anything, I should trust him with my life. 

"Do you trust me?" The Doctor answered again. 

"I... Yes I trust you," I confirmed with a small nod. 

A ghost of a grin crept on his face. "Fantastic. On my signal, I want you to fall to the ground," he instructed, and cleared his throat. "So what I would like to know is, why are you here?" He asked the angels, who couldn't talk, of course. "You also seem to be focused on my friend Augusta here. You want her, don't you? Well if you want her so much, come get her!!" 

He pushed me towards the angels, who looked oh so eager to get their hands on me. In a blink of an eye, the Angels encased me in their circle of death, their hands clawing at me, their faces looking something of a demon's.

"Doctor!" I screamed, absolutely terrified,  trying to stare at all the angels, but it wasn't working. They were advancing on me, and I had nowhere to go. 

Then, one of them touch my arm, and I suddenly felt completely exhausted. Like I had ran a hundred laps. I was too tired to move from their grip, I felt like my life was draining from my body. Another Angel touched me, making  me even more exhausted. I felt like I was dying. Like my very life source was being drained from me. 

"AUGUSTA, NOW!" The Doctor yelled, and I gladly dropped like a bag of rocks. I heard footsteps pound over towards me. "Augusta, are you okay?!" I saw him shine his sonic in my face. 

"Is she alright?" Rose asked, fearfully. 

"They touched her, but didn't send her through time," he frowned. "They consumed the void particles that was on her, there's barely any traces of it left now." 

"What about them?" Rose asked, referring to the angels. 

"Quantum locked," the Doctor said quickly. "Their greatest defense is also their greatest weakness. If they look at each other then they are frozen for all eternity. 'S why they cover their faces." 

"Doctor..." I moaned, barely able to keep my eyes open.

"Shh, be quiet, you should feel really exhausted from the void energy depletion," he said. "You were fantastic Augusta, but you need to rest." I began to see two blurry Doctors and black spots danced on the edges of my vision, but I fought to stay awake. 

"N-No... I don't... I don't want... to sleep..." I mumbled, barely being able to make out my words, "I... Get nightmares... Sleeping... Scary..." 

"You need to rest. I'll help you," he said, I felt his fingers pressed again my temples, and a second later, my mind shut down and everything went black. 


	5. C H A P T E R  T H R E E

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Filler-ish.  
> Forgot to mention this is also on Wattpad. Just look up @Happyritas and you'll see this and my Naruto fanfic, Finidng My Happiness In the Darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta. 
> 
> Please do not copy.

Chapter Three:

"N-No... I don't... I don't want... to sleep..." I mumbled, barely being able to make out my words, "I... Get nightmares... Sleeping... Scary..." 

"You need to rest. I'll help you," he said, I felt his fingers pressed again my temples, and a second later, my mind shut down and everything went black. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

Augusta's POV 

I was strapped to the cold metal table, with a overhanging light shining at my face. Beside we were endless racks of medical supplies and multicolored chemicals. The room smelled sharply of alcohols and chemicals, which burned through my nostrils. I wanted to call out, and scream even, but my mouth was gagged tightly. 

A few dark figures began to appear in the room, making me gasp. I struggled against the bonds on my hands and arms, but it didn't do anything except make my wrists sore. 

Tears began to form in my eyes, "Please, no!" I begged, but it was muffled by the gag. Then one of them pulled out a shiny syringe, which seemed to shine under the light. 

"No. No! Please, stop!" I tried to beg, but they didn't stop. Then I heard their laughter. The mocking, cruel, horrible laughing, that rang throughout the air, and flooded through my ears. Make it stop. Please. Make it stop, I thought, but it didn't seem to end  any time  soon.

They filled the syringe with some green substance, and held it out to my arm. Sharp, toothy grins shined on their dark faces. Time seemed to slow down as they held out the syringe to my bare arm, I stared at the sharp needle fearfully. 

They plunged it into my skin, and I screamed loudly as they poured the substance into my bloodstream. Their laughter rose above my screams of terror, and echoed throughout the room. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

My eyes snapped open to see a dark figure leaning down in my face, their arm reaching out to touch me. My eyes widened, and I screamed, trying to move away from them as I  possible  could. I fell off whatever I was on, which was most likely a bed, and move as far away as I could. The lights switched on, revealing the Medical Bay setting from earlier. The Doctor was standing at the bed, staring at me.

"Augusta! Augusta, calm down!" The Doctor said calmly.

"Leave me alone! No more shots!" I cried, sitting in the corner of the room. "No more shots, please!" 

"Augusta, it's fine, I'm not going to give you a shot," the Doctor said in a calm voice. He moved over to where I was and reached out a hand to touch me, but I screamed again. 

"NO! NO MORE!!" I yelled. Tears streaming down my cheeks. "No more. Please," I croaked. 

I heard the door swing open, "Doctor, what's going on?" Rose's groggy voice said. 

"No more..." I whimpered. The Doctor moved and swatted down in front of me. 

"Augusta, everything is going to be fine, you just need to calm down, okay?" His voice sounded so sympathetic and calming, that it made me stop crying and look up at him. "There you go, see happy." He made a silly face making me smile weakly. "You mind telling me what's wrong?" My face fell and when he reminded me of the dream. "Okay, don't tell me. How 'bout we just talk instead, yeah? What's your favorite color?" 

I sniffed, "I dunno. I don't really have a favorite color..." 

He frowned and sat beside me, "What? Don't have a favorite color? We can fix that easily. There's this one planet that's just full of flowers and plants of all different colors! It's so beautiful!" I didn't notice Rose walking out of the room, with a smile on her face.

"Really?" I asked, and he nodded. 

"Yeah, it's amazing," he smiled at me softly. "We'll have to go see it someday. Okay, how about your favorite book?" 

I frowned and looked at the ground again. "What's wrong?" 

"I... Can't... Read," I whispered embarrassedly. 

"You can't read?" He repeated with a small frown. 

I didn't answer, I just looked at the ground. "Oi, it's alright. I'll teach you how to read. It's easy!" He grinned contagiously making me smile softly. "Something else. What do you like doing for fun?" 

"I like to... Build things," he looked at me interesting. 

"What kind of things?" 

"Just little toys. The latest thing I was working on was a shrink ray. I was almost done..." 

The Doctor stared at me intently. "You were going to build... A compression gun?" 

"'Compression gun'? What's a compression gun? I was building a 'shrink ray'. It didn't work, though. It... Broke. It was stupid anyway, it's not like I could've actually build a shrink ray." 

"That's not stupid. That's fantastic! You're just fourteen-years old, and you almost succeeded in building a comp-- a shrink ray without any prior knowledge of it! That's amazing, you're brilliant Augusta!" 

"I'm not brilliant," I mumbled. "It was just a toy, and it wasn't going to work properly anyway..." 

He gave me a stern look, "Don't say that. Who told you that you weren't brilliant?" 

"Nobody told me I was brilliant," I muttered. 

"Augusta, you just may be one of the smartest, most talented human I've ever met," he said, I looked at him wide-eyed. 

"You don't mean that," I frowned, there were a bunch of other companions that he met that were much better than I was, like Donna or Rose. I was nothing compared them. 

"I do mean it. And if nobody has told you this before then I'm glad that I was the first; Augusta you are fantastic," he gave me a big smile, making me smile sheepishly. 

"Thank you... Thank you Doctor," I gave him a small smile, making him grin. 

"C'mon, I'm not going to bed anytime soon, let's go eat something," he slapped my knee lightly and got up. He held out his hand for me to get up, but I got up on my own. He led the way to the TARDIS' kitchen. It was huge, it had a big stove, a counter with tall chairs to sit in. There were cabinets lined against the walls high up and some cooking supplies hung from the ceiling.

When we arrived, he went straight to the fridge, which was super big. "Okay, what would you like? I can make eggs, pancakes, cereal, more eggs, and pancakes." 

"Uh... What are 'panscakes'?" I asked, confusedly. I never heard of that before, although I hadn't heard of a lot of things,  panscakes  were new. 

The Doctor spun around so fast, I swear he would've gotten whiplash. "You don't know what pancakes are?! Pancakes is a human food, and one of my favorites. It's so simple and easy to make, it's just like one of those apes to create such a thing!" He began to pull things out of the cabinet and fridge. "We're having pancakes!" 

I slid into one of the counter-seats. "Okay. Pancakes. Whatever those are..." I watched carefully as he began to mix throw things in a big mixing pot and stirring it all together.

"Do you wanna help?" He asked, as he put more powdery stuff in the concoction. 

"Uh..." I didn't know whether to tell him about my... Problem with cooking or just say no.

"It's not hard," he persuaded, "All I want you to do is mix it." 

"Okay..." I said, reluctantly jumping off my chair and heading towards him.

"First, go wash your hands," he instructed. "You can't wear your gloves, they're dirty." 

"Uh... I can't take off my gloves..." I said in a quiet voice, staring at the black-and-white tiling on the ground. 

"C'mon,  its  not that hard. Just take off your gloves so you can wash your hands," he said, still mixing the ingredients. 

"I... No, I can't," I said. 

"Why can't you?" He asked. 

I didn't answer. He sighed, "It's okay, you don't have to take them off. Let's just keep talking. Do you have any siblings?" 

I frowned, "'Siblings'?" 

"Yeah, siblings, you know, brothers or sisters." 

"Oh! Uh, no. I don't have any brothers or sisters... " 

"Okay. Then what are you parents like? Are they nice? Strict? Silly?" He ratted off. 

"Um... Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were kind of... Strict, you could say... They would leave all day and leave me chores to do, but I always finished them. In my spare time, I would watch Doctor Who -- the TV show I kept talking about -- and build things. I used to cook things, but I'd usually burn or freeze them, which would get me punished and--" 

"Augusta," the Doctor interrupted, making me look up at him. His face was stony serious and his crystal blue eyes didn't sparkle anymore, they seemed to be staring into my soul. 

"Y-Yes?" I stammered, afraid of what he was going to do to me. Maybe I said too much, maybe this whole 'Doctor Who' experience had been planned by the Johnsons, and they were just testing me! Maybe he was actually one of them, and needed information on the Johnsons. What if he brought me back to them!? I gasped in horror at the possibilities, and instinctively took a step away from him. 

He  noticied  my movement, and frowned, "I'm not going to hurt you Augusta," he said, but something told me that if he was going to hurt me, that was the first thing he would say. "Augusta, please. I promise to never hurt you. Ever." 

I didn't believe a word he said, I just kept backing away, like a scared animal from a predator. He dropped the cooking stuff, and walked towards me slowly, which I answered by taking a step back in return. 

"Augusta, you have to trust me. I promise to never,.ever hurt you," he said calmly. I narrowed my eyes, his blue eyes that scared me were no longer scary. More like desperate. He needed me, he wanted me desperately. I dully wondered how much they paid him to get me to them. 

"No," I said. "I'm not going back to them. I'm never going back!" 

"And I promise that I never will take you to them," he replied. 

"You're lying!" I spat angrily. "And here I thought that this was all real. That I had actually been on the TARDIS and made a friend, but I guess not. This could never be real. I was too  naïve  to notice it. Well guess what? I'm not going back to them. I'll never, ever go back! You can't make me!!" I turned around and began to run, I felt the Doc-- no, Christopher Eccleston, whoever he was, grab the end of my glove, and pulling it clean off. 

I didn't have time to respond, I just ran, holding my bare hand close to my chest. I fled down the seemingly endless hallways aimlessly. 

I looked behind me to see if he was chasing me, and luckily finding nobody. I sighed in relief, and kept running, until I bumped into something and fell to the ground. " Wha's  going on? Why are you  runnin' ?" Rose's voice asked. I looked up to see Rose standing in front  if  me. She seemed to still be in her pajamas, and rubbing her eye groggily. 

What if she was part of them to!? I thought irrationally. I picked myself up, and ran again, before Rose -- or Billie, I don't know -- and raced down the hallway. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

Doctor's POV

He watched as she ran like an army of  daleks  were chasing her, holding her glove in his hand. She had described what her 'parents' were like, and he wanted to ask if she was adopted, which would explain why she called them, 'Mr. and Mrs.' instead of 'Mum and Dad.'

He sighed and rubbed the glove with his hand. He would have to make pancakes later. Right now, he needed to find her. 

He began to head over to the console room, meeting Rose on the way, who looked like she had just rolled out of bed. "Doctor, there you are!" She said. "What's going on? Why's Augusta so.. . Jumpy?" 

"You saw Augusta?" He asked, as they went over to the console room. 

"Yeah, I bumped into 'er a minute ago," she rubbed her eye. "But she  jus'  looked at me  an'  ran. She seemed... Scared," a frown formed on her face. 

He ran a hand through his hair. "She's confused. She thinks that I'm going to hurt her, or something, and she ran." He hurried over the  the  console and began to type quickly on the computer. "I can go through the system and scan it for any other human life forms. It should pinpoint Augusta's location, and we can talk to her." 

"Is she going to be alright?" Rose asked, her voice evidently held worry and concern for the child. 

He gave her a small smile, "Of course she'll be okay. She's just confused." He turned back to the computer, and scanned over his results. A grin spread out on his face. "Found her!" 

She was in the pool room and wasn't moving. He manually closed and locked the door, so she wouldn't start running again. "Where is she?" Rose asked, looking over his shoulder. 

"Pool," he answered, and began typing again. "And we're going to send her a little message."

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

Augusta's POV

I sat against the wall of the room I found. I was certain they wouldn't be able to find me in here. I was hiding in some room with a large rectangular swimming pool, that had little blue and white balls bobbing on the top of the water. 

My eyes were puffy from crying. I couldn't believe that I played right into their hands again. I thought that I had actually made a friend, someone who would actually help me, but I was wrong. From everything that has happened to me, I can't believe that I had actually thought I would actually made a friend. He said I was brilliant. A humorless laugh escaped my lips, he lied. Of course I wasn't 'brilliant', why would I even think I was brilliant. This was all my fault, I shouldn't have been so  naïve . I shouldn't have trusted him, I was better off on my own. 

The sound of the door closing broke me away from my thought. I quickly stood up, and ran over to the door, that had slammed shut. What's going on? Why had the door closed? Had they planned to lock me in here?! 

I banged on the door with my fist. I didn't want to be locked in here. "Let me out! Let me out!!" I yelled, but the door didn't budge. 

I was trapped, I thought in realization. They finally got me and I was trapped again. They were going to take me away and-- 

"Augusta!" A scratchy voice said behind me. I whipped my head around to see the Doctor -- I didn't know what else to call him -- and Rose. I jumped back, and pressed my back against the door. How had they gotten in here?! The door was closed wasn't it!? 

"It's just a hologram," the Doctor said, reading my thoughts. 

I frowned. "What do you want? Why did you lock me in here?" My voice was icy cold and serious. 

"We aren't going to hurt you," the Doctor said. "We needed to make sure you didn't run again so we could find you." The hologram glitches and shuddered. 

"I don't want to talk to you right now," I mumbled, walking away from the holographic image, leaving it to talk to where I was. 

"I meant it when I said you were brilliant," he continued. "I didn't lie to you; I would never lie to you. I know you're confused right now, but I promise you, we would never dream of hurting you." 

The hologram  glitched  and faded out, leaving me in silence. Had he really meant that? Maybe he wasn't working for them... Maybe I had just been overreacting this whole time... 

I sat on the edge of the pool, and kicked my legs in the water, not caring if my feet got wet. Maybe I should just listen to him. The only reason I was so on edge was because of my dream anyway. After all, it was just a dream. Just the other day in Rome, I said that I trusted him with my life, but now I was running from him. 

But I didn't know who to trust  though . Doctor or Christopher Eccleston, he was still a stranger. In the show, the Doctor is perceived by a kind man, who gives second chances (usually), and doesn't hurt or kill unless he is forced to. If he sees me as dangerous, will he kill me? 

Christopher Eccleston is a total stranger to me, I didn't know anything about him. All I knew is that he played the Doctor. He could be secretly working for them, and I would never know. 

Either way, they were both total strangers, who I didn't know anything about. I sighed, taking my feet out of the water, and touching it with my bare hand, watching it crystallize around it. Maybe I should just trust him. He had helped me when I was hurt, and then he saved me from the lion and the Angels. He also made me smile after a nightmare. Maybe he wasn't a bad person... 

The sound of the door opening behind me, made me jump. "AUGUSTA! You're okay!" The Doctor exclaimed. 

"Wh-What do you want? Why are you here?!" I asked, more shocked than angry. I should've hidden when that hologram appeared, I should've known that he would've came to get me. 

"We came to get you," Rose said a small smile on her face. "We were worried about you." 

"'Worried,'" I echoed. "Why would you be worried about me?" 

"'Cos we care 'bout you, silly." I was taken back by her words. She cared about me? Why would she care about me? She barely knew me. She had only known me for, what, a day or two(it was kind of hard to keep track of time on the TARDIS, and I was sleeping for who knows how long). 

"Why would you care about me? You don't even know me," I scoffed lightly. 

Rose scratched the back of her neck, "Well, your just...  Likeable , that's why. You're nice." 

I frowned and crossed my arms over my chest, "I'm 'likeable'?" I never heard that word before;  likeable . I'm able to be liked? That's a weird word. 

"Yeah," she nodded, still keeping that smile on her face. 

"C'mon Augusta, we can still go make pancakes if you want," the Doctor suggested. 

My mind trailed to the pancakes that the Doctor was making earlier. That big blob of... Gunk. My nose scrunched up in disgust, "I don't think I want any... Pancakes," I shook my head. 

"So you'll come back?" The Doctor asked. 

I frowned. Would I come back? Maybe they really meant what they said, and maybe they really did... Care about me. 

But what if they hurt you, a small part of me reminded, making me internally scowl. I was right, what of they tried to bring me back to them, I barely escaped the last time. If I go back then I probably wouldn't be able to escape again. 

But they really seemed to care for me, and I never heard someone say that before. Maybe I want to risk getting hurt, and being caught again. In the end, I just wanted to feel... Cared, like Rose said. I wanted a chance for someone to care about me before finding out how I was a monster.  I wanted to be happy, just once, and this might be my only chance in doing so. 

I took a deep breath, and nodded. "... Yes," I nodded, making him grin, "But, you have to promise to never hurt me, or bringing me back." 

"Yes, of course. I would never dream of hurting you, ever," the Doctor said. "Now let's go make pancakes." 

"Pancakes?" Rose asked, very confused. "Why pancakes?"

"'Cause pancakes are fun!" He grinned lopsidedly and went to grab my gloveless arm. Instinctively, I moved back, but quickly regretted it, because I was still on the edge of the pool. 

My eyes widened, as I felt my body drop, into the water. I opened my mouth to scream, but only found my mouth full of water. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't see, I didn't know what to do. I was scared. 

Black spots began to dance on my vision as I sunk further and further to the bottom. I began to choke on the water that filled my lungs, I didn't know what to do, I didn't know how to move. 

Suddenly, strong arms began to wrap themselves around my waist and pull me back up. When we reached the surface, I gasped the air greedily. I was pulled back to the side, I began coughing loudly. 

"Augusta, are you alright?!" Rose asked as I was placed on the side of the pool. I kept coughing, and my throat began to feel sore. 

"Why did you jump in the pool!?" The Doctor asked, I saw that he was drenched too. "And why was the pool so cold? It not supposed to be cold."

"I'm... Sorry..." I said between hacks. I didn't understand. 

I heard the Doctor sigh, "Don't be sorry. It was an accident. As long as your safe." 

My coughing began to slow down, but my throat felt sore. "Are you cold?" Rose asked, "Do you need a towel?" 

I began to sit up, my big curly hair fell in my face limply, and completely covered my eyes. My clothes were soaked and I was still missing a glove. 

"My glove," I said, holding out my hand to the Doctor. "I need my glove." 

"Oh right," he put his hand in his pocket(my eyes widened when he went down to at least his elbow) and pulled out my black glove. "Here you go, mint condition," he grinned. 

I sighed in relief-- only to earn a light cough -- and took my glove, and putting it on my bare hand. "Thank you..." I said quietly, but cleared my throat. "Thank you so much." 

I felt much safer with my glove on. "Now,  lets  go make pancakes!" The Doctor cheered, making Rose laugh, and we exited the room. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

We were all in the kitchen, smiling and laughing and making pancakes. The Doctor was flipping pancakes and telling us all sorts of adventures he went on, while Rose and I sat at the table listening and laughing.

"Pancakes are done," he announced, putting the food on plates, and placing them in front of us, along with butter, a can of something, and a bottle of brown liquids. "Enjoy," he winked, making Rose smile. 

Rose began to cut her pancakes and pour the stuff on them, while I just looked at mine. The pancakes were no longer blob- ish , they were a crisp brown that was lighter around the sides. The Doctor had given me three pancakes and stacked them on top of each other. 

I picked up the end, and looked under the pancake curiously. The bottom of it was a really light brown, almost white, covered with hundreds of little crater like circles. 

After thoroughly examining the bottom, I began to try to eat it. I picked up the pancake, like it was a sandwich, and took a bite out of it. It tasted plain, like a slice of bread. I didn't like it much. 

When I heard Rose giggling, I dropped pancake. "What?" I asked, confused at what she was laughing at. 

"That's not how you eat it," she laughed. 

I frowned, "Then how do you eat it?" 

"Like this," she motioned to her plate, where the pancakes were cut up in triangles and submerged in the brown substance, that was topped with white foam. 

"What's that?" I asked, pointing to the brown stuff. 

"'S syrup," she answered. 

"And that?" Pointing to white foam. 

"Whipped cream," she answered, picking up the can. "Here, open your mouth," I looked at her suspiciously, keeping my mouth closed. She rolled her eyes, "Trust me, it's good."

I looked at her for a second, but sighed and opened my mouth like she said. She pushed a button and a second later, the white foam shot out of the spout-thing, and into my mouth. I jumped, making it spill on my shirt, and closed my mouth, making it go all over my face. Rose fell into a fit of laughter, and set the can back down.

"What was that?!" I half-yelled, trying to wipe off the foam. 

"It's whipped cream!" She insisted, between laughter. 

"What are you two doing?" The Doctor asked, sitting down with his own -- large -- stack of pancakes. "Why are you covered in whipped cream...?" 

"She sprayed foam in my face!" I frowned, trying to get I off, ruining my gloves in the process. 

The Doctor looked at Rose, who rose her hands in defense. "I didn't mean to pour it all over her, honest," she defended. "She jus' freaked out an' it went everywhere!" She turned back to me. "Just try it, Augusta." 

I looked at her oddly, but licked my glove that held a lot most of the foam. It tasted sweet-ish and fluffy. "Why does it taste so... Fluffy?" I asked, licking my glove clean. 

The Doctor chuckled, and handed me a napkin. "It's just what they put in it, to make it taste light and melt quickly," he answered, as I sat down and wiped off my face, and licking it off the napkin. 

"Don't eat the napkin," Rose laughed and added, "You're not a goat!" 

I ruffled my eyebrows, "Goat? What's a goat?" 

"It's... Well, it's a goat. Ya know, short, white, has horns on their heads," I cocked my head to the side, and looked at her confusedly. "It's... Ugh, Doctor, can you please help explain this." 

She looked over to the Doctor for help, but he was engrossed in his pancakes, the stack was at least gone by half by now. He looked up at us, wide-eyed and mid chew. He swallowed, "Sorry, what?" 

Rose face palmed. "Nevermind, forget I said anything about goats." I shrugged and went back to eating my pancakes like a sandwich.

The Doctor looked up at me, " Why're  you eating it with your hands?" 

"Why are you eating it with a stabber?" I countered. 

"'Stabber'?" He asked. I held up the stabber and showed him. He frowned, "Augusta, that's called a fork." 

"Same thing," I huffed, finishing off my pancakes. The Doctor opened his mouth to say something, but stopped himself and kept eating. 

I picked up my dishes and got up from the table, and placed them in the dishwasher, along with everything else the Doctor used.

Soon, Rose placed  hers  in the  sdiswasher  too. "So, where do you want to go next?" The Doctor asked, still eating. "We can go to a different planet or--" 

"Where have you taken Rose?" I interrupted. I didn't want my presence being here effect their timelines. Certain things were supposed to happen, and if they didn't then I don't know what would happen to us, or the Earth. What if the Doctor doesn't save Earth and everyone dies? 

I was probably being irrational, but it was still something to consider. 

"We went to go see the sun explode last. That was before you were here," Rose said. 

So the next episode would be 'The Unquiet Dead'. "It is Rose's turn," I said, nudging her. Hopefully, she decided to go to the past so we can get the show back on track. 

The Doctor looked at Rose, expectantly. "Well, we went in the future first, then we went to Rome. Where do you wanna go? Past again?" 

"Sure, past sounds great," she nodded. The Doctor stood up, and brought his empty plate over and placed it in the dishwasher, and I started it. 

"Past it is," he confirmed. "Augusta, you should probably find a change of clothes," he looked down at my stained sweatshirt and dirty gloves. 

"Okay. Where do I...?" I trailed off. I didn't exactly have a closet to get clothes from. 

"There's a wardrobe down the hall. First left, second right, third on the left, go straight ahead, under the stairs, past the bins, it's the fifth door on your left," he said quickly. "Rose and I'll drive the TARDIS and wait for you." 

"Okay. I'll meet you guys back in the console room then," I gave them a small smile, and began to head out of the kitchen. 

"Hurry back," Rose called as I left the room, "And try not to get lost!" 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

After getting lost a few times, and taking a couple wrong turns, I finally made it to the wardrobe -- that was labeled wardrobe on the door. 

I pushed the hand-thing on the door, opening it. When I saw the inside, I was shocked. There room seemed to be endless, and filled with clothes all sorts of colors. There was a large spiral staircase in the middle that led to even more floor levels. 

"Woah... This is..." I couldn't even think of a word to describe it. 

After having a second to get over my awe of the room. I began to walk around. We were going into the 1869, and I didn't want a repeat of last time, with the kid thinking I was a slave. 

"Something 1869-y. What did they wear in 1869?" I spoke aloud to myself, and began to roam the racks of clothes. 

Something in the corner of my eye lit up, making me turn my head. In the distance, there was a dress that was a big violet-purple. I walked over to it to see the violet purple dress that had a big bow in the back, laced with black around the edges. Beside it was black flats, and a purple hat with the same lacy black. 

The dress itself was huge, and looked like it could fit two people, but it kind of gave me think it looked 'old-timey' though. 

For a second, I wondered why this was lit up, but then I remembered when the Doctor said that the TARDIS 'gets in your head' thing. "You picked this out for me?" I asked the TARDIS. 

A soft hum was the response, which is what I assumed how the TARDIS communicated, "Thank you," I smiled softly, earning another hum. 

I grabbed the clothes, "Now for a place to change..." I muttered, and the staircase lit up, hinting for me to walk up them. 

"Okay then, staircase it is," I nodded, and walked over, thanking the TARDIS, once again, for her convenience. 

I trudged up the staircase, for another two floors -- which for some reason didn't seem to take too long -- until I found a floor filled with little stalls, which is what I assumed was where you changed into. 

Going into the nearest stall, I began to take off my sweatshirt, and clothes, and slipped on the dress. As soon as I pulled up the dress, the room began shaking and moving, which is what I expected the TARDIS to be flying. 

I was jostled to the ground, holding on to whatever I could for dead life. After a few minutes, the intense rumbling slowed to a stop, signaling our arrival. I sighed heavily, and began to finish pulling up the dress and putting it on. 

Once it was on, I found a few strings in the back of the dress, that I didn't know where it went to. Also, the dress wouldn't stay up either. I fumbled with the strings for probably a full ten minutes before giving up completely. 

Stupid dress, I thought bitterly, find. Didn't want to tie, then I wouldn't wear it. I heard the downstairs door slide open, and close shut which assumed was Rose. 

"Augusta?" Rose's voices echoed off the walls, confirming my thoughts. "Where are you?" 

"Third floor," I answered, picking up my dress and clothes. "Can you help me with my dress? It's broken." 

"Yeah, lemme get my stuff first," she answered. I heard her footsteps walk around. She was probably examining the expansive closet like I had. 

I sat down on the floor, impatiently tapping my fingers, waiting for her. Finally, I had heard her footsteps on the staircase, coming up to where I was. 

"I'm on level three, where are you?" She asked, and I walked out of the stall, and over to her. She had the dress she wore in the Unquiet Dead episode folded in her arms. When she saw me, she set it down on a table -- that I didn't notice before -- and walked over to me.

"What do you need help with?" She asked. 

"The dress," I pulled on the strings in the back. "It's broken, it won't stay up."

She frowned for a second, and moved behind me, I felt her fingers touch the strings. "Oh. It's a corset. No wonder," she said to herself, and cleared her throat. "Okay, I'm going to fix your dress, but  its  gonna hurt a bit, is that okay?" 

"Uh... What do you mean..." I was confused, how could a dress hurt? 

"Just, get ready, okay," she seemed a bit nervous, which was making me nervous. 

"O-Okay..." 

I felt her yank on the strings, and I gasped. My stomach felt like it was being squeezed until I was going to explode. I cried out in pain, she dropped the strings, making it loose again. 

I breathed heavily, what was that?! Why did it feel like that?! "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you that much!" Rose apologized frantically. 

Was this how they wore dresses back then? I sighed, if I wanted to come, then we would have to blend in right? I stood up straight, and took a deep breath. "Rose, try again, I'm sorry I stopped you last time." 

Rose looked at me oddly, but nodded know agreement, "Okay, then. I'm going to try again." 

Rose's hands found the strings again, and she pulled, I bit my lip, trying not to yell again. This was going to be a long night...

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

Doctor's POV

He was tinkering the TARDIS when he heard two pairs if footsteps echo on the metal flooring. He poked his head out of the metal panels to see Augusta and Rose, Augusta standing shyly behind Rose, looking at the ground and playing with her gloves. Both of them were wearing dresses, although Augusta's was much bigger. 

Augusta wore a violet dress with black lacing and many layers. Her black gloves were covering her arms up to her elbow. Her lips were glossed lightly, and her eyes were darkened around edges. On her head was a purple hat, that matched her dress. A small smile was on her face, although it looked a bit forced. 

Rose wore a much different dress, that was red and black, with a black and red dress, with a black shawl around her shoulders, and black shoes. They both looked stunning. 

"Blimey," he chuckled. 

"Don't laugh," Rose warned, with a laugh. 

"You look beautiful! ... Considering..." He trailed off. 

"Considering what?" Rose asked, crossing her hands over her chest. 

"That you're a human," he finished. 

Rose rolled her eyes, "I'll think of that as a compliment. Augusta, c'mon show 'im your pretty dress!" Rose said, encouraging Augusta out from behind her. 

"Your both look fantastic," he complimented, making Rose blush lightly. 

"I feel weird," Augusta mumbled, "The dress is really tight and I feel like my face is caked. It's itchy..." 

"It's makeup," Rose sighed, "And you look great." 

The Doctor clapped his hands loudly, "Now,  lets  go to see 1860!" 

"Aren't you going to get changed?" Rose asked, pointing out his outfit. 

"I changed my jumper and jacket, now  lets  go!" He grinned. 

"You stay there! You've done this before. This is mine," Rose raced over to the doors, excitedly. Augusta went to go stand by him, with a small smile on his face. 

"You ready for this?" He asked, and Rose nodded eagerly. "Here we go. History!" 


	6. C H A P T E R  F O U R

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> YAY! First real chapter! Tell me whatcha think!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta. 
> 
> Please do not copy.

Chapter 4: 

"You ready for this?" He asked, and Rose nodded eagerly. "Here we go. History!" 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

Augusta's POV

When Rose stepped outside the door, the Doctor and I were right behind her. 

He went to stand outside with her, but I stood in the TARDIS, frowning at the ground. Littering across the ground was a white... Rug? I've never seen that before. Was the Doctor sure we were on earth? 

I swatted down curiously and touched the ground, it squished under my fingers. My fingers went a few inches deep, before I felt the ground. It left something wet on the fingers of my gloves. I licked my gloves. It tasted plain, like water, but I could taste it any longer because it evaporated quickly. 

"Augusta, what are you  doin' ?" Rose asked, making me looked up at her. The Doctor and Rose were both staring at me oddly. Well, the Doctor looked a bit more amused than odd. 

I looked away embarrassingly, I probably wasn't suppose to do that. "I'm sorry," I apologized quickly, standing up and rubbing my neck awkwardly. "I just-- I was confused-- I didn't..." I stumbled over what to say, so I just closed my mouth. 

"It's snow," the Doctor answered, reading my troubled thoughts. "It's like a colder version of rain. It's safe, trust me." 

I looked at the 'snow' to the Doctor, then back at the 'snow' before shakily taking a step in it. I half expected for something to come out of the ground and grab my at my ankles. 

Suddenly, my shoes began to get wet. I could feel it through my stockings -- as Rose called them earlier. It was seeking through my shoes, and swimming in my shoes. 

I gasped, and jumped back into the TARDIS, promptly throwing off my shoes quickly. "Oi! What'd you do that for?" The Doctor asked confusedly, looking up from the newspaper he was reading. 

"My shoes! They're wet!" I cried, shocked. My stockings were wet also, I began to pull those off, but Rose  ran  over and stopped me. 

"It's fine, it's just water!" Rose said frantically. "No need to be flashin' your knockers to ever'one!" 

I stopped and frowned at her, "What's a knocker?" I asked, confused. 

"Uh... They're... Um... Doctor, what's  american  for knockers?" Rose asked. 

The Doctor's ears went a light pink, "Underwear," he answered quickly, ducking back under his paper.

Now it was my turn to be embarrassed. "Oh, I'm sorry,  I didn't mean... I..." I covered my face in my hands in embarrassment. Rose laughed lightly, and went to go grab my shoes, and helped me put them back on. 

"If I had known that we would be in the dead of  wint'r  then I would've made you wear some boots," Rose said, and held out her hand to me. "Oh well, c'mon,  lets  go build some snowmen and snow angels. We can even have a snowball fight if you want." 

Before I could ask what a snowball fight even was, an ear-piercing scream filled the air. The Doctor grinned tossing away his paper, I could tell he was eager for danger. "That's more like it!" He grabbed Rose and took off, with me running behind them. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

We entered the  theatre  just when the blue  gases  swarmed around everywhere wailing loudly. People were screaming and running, it was almost hard not to get dragged away with the crowd, but Rose helped me by pulling me away to safety. 

"Fantastic," the Doctor awed, watching the  gases  intriguingly. As soon as they left, the Doctor  adverted  his gaze, and went to go talk to someone, with Rose right behind him. I began to go over when I noticed someone dragging away a body, which obviously wasn't right. 

I looked back to see the Doctor and Rose in deep conversation, and began to stray over to the man and lady, who were scurrying out the door. 

I followed them quietly, hiding in the corner when they turned, finally when they made it out to the street, I presented myself. 

"What're you doing?" I asked innocently, mimicking Rose's voice like I had done a few days ago.  I sounded exactly like her, except it was higher pitched to make me sound younger. 

The man jumped and looked behind him, to see me. "What're you doing here? Go to you mum or da. It's too late for someone of your age to be roamin' 'bout." This must've been Mr. Sneed, I didn't see him clearly earlier. The lady behind him must be Gwyneth then. 

I frowned, but looked behind him to see Gwyneth pushing the old woman in the car with... Horses? I shook my head of the strange thing, and focused on these two. 

"Why are you pushing that lady in there?" I asked,  fiegning  confusion.

"She just fainted of fright missy," Gwyneth lied. "Poor lady's been taken with brain fever and were  bringin'  her to the infirmary." 

I tried to look over to see her, but Sneed pushed me on the snow. "Go home now! Stop with that snoopin'!" He yelled, as I ran at him again, this time ducking under his arms and climbing into the car-thing. 

The woman was a deathly pale, no movement of breathing was on her chest, and I had known that look on her face, from past experiences. She was dead. 

"She's dead," I announced in horror. My mind went blank, I didn't remember what happened next in the show. Did they kill her? Would they kill me? Why did they kill her? 

"She's dead," I said again, this time louder. I clenched my jaw and gritted my teeth. "Did you kill her?" My voice was low and no longer held the mimicked accent. 

Two arms made their way around my waist, dragging me out of the car-thing. I screamed and kicked at the arms. "LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" I yelled but a rag was placed on my mouth and nose. 

I began to cough as I breathed in whatever was in the rag. It didn't smell, or taste, good. I couldn't breath my head felt light. Black spots covered my vision entirely, and I blacked out. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

Doctor's POV

He was talking to the man when he noticed that he hadn't heard Augusta for quite a bit. When he turned around, his eyes widened.

Augusta was gone. 

"Rose, where's Augusta?!" The Doctor asked, abruptly ending his conversation with the man, and pulled out his sonic, looking for any of her traces left. 

"I thought she was with you," Rose argued. 

When a familiar scream, followed by a loud 'Let me go!' echoed from outside, he knew he had found her. 

He raced out of the room, not before noticing the blue-ghost dive into the  gas lamp , and raced down the street. 

He saw someone throw a girl with a violet dress, that he recognized as Augusta's dress, into the carriage, and run into the front, and hurry off. 

He was beginning to get angry, how dare they just throw a child carelessly into a carriage!? He spotted a carriage at the end of the street and ran into it, helping Rose climb in. 

"Oi, you! Follow that hearse," he instructed the coach.

"You can't do that, sir!" The man-from-earlier scolded angrily. 

"Why not?" He asked. He took things like this all the time. It wasn't anything new. 

"Why not!?!? I'll give you a very good reason why. This is my coach!" 

"Well get in, then," the Doctor said, pulling the man in. He turned to the driver. "MOVE!" 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*

Augusta's POV

I woke with a start. I looked around to see that I was lying on the table, beside a few wooden boxes. 

There was a man in one of them sitting up straight and looking at me, and a old lady -- the same one from earlier -- doing the same. I briefly remembered what happened in this episode, and climbed off the table. 

"R-right. Walking dead," I reminded myself and made my way for the door, only to find that it was locked. They both swung their legs around the side of the table robotically, and began to stand up. 

I pushed on the door again, "Let me out!" I yelled. The man and lady walked nearer and I pushed harder. "LET ME OUT!"  

The man clasped his hand over my mouth and the old lady dragged me away, just as the door swung open revealing the Doctor. He pulled  he  away from the supposed-to-be-dead man. 

"Is this a prank? It must be. Are under some sort of mesmeric influence," the man behind the Doctor  ranted . 

"No we're not. The dead are walking," he looked down to me and grinned. "Hi!" 

"Hey..." I said, getting out of his arms quickly. 

"What is that thing?" The man asked again, but the Doctor didn't answer him.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor, who are you? What do you want?" The Doctor asked the corpses. 

"We're failing. Open the rift, we're dying. Trapped in this form-- cannot sustain-- help us," the corpses begged. Then blue  gases  crawled out of their mouths, making the wailing sound from earlier echo the walls, and leaving the corpses as dead as they came. 

"You 'right?" Rose asked me, I gave her a small nod. 

"Yeah, I'll live..." I answered with a small shrug.

"Good," the Doctor nodded, and turned over to Sneed, "We need to talk." 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

We were sitting in a different room, much farther from the room with 'zombies', as Rose called them, drinking tea and talking. 

Gwyneth handed me a steaming cup, I looked up at her to thank her, but she had already scurried away. 

"First you drug 'er, then you kidnap 'er and stick 'er in a rook full'a zombies!" Rose ranted, her London accent was thick, and a bit hard to understand. "And if that wasn't enough, I felt your hand wandering down my backside earlier, you dirty ol' man!" I heard the Doctor snigger, which apparently Rose did too, and shot him a glare.  

"And if that ain't enough, you locked 'er in so she can't get out either, so talk before I call the Yard on you!" She finished, with her arms crossed over her chest angrily. 

Although she was talking about me, it was kind of funny to see Rose get all angry. I suppressed a laugh and sipped my drink, which was water. 

I looked over to thank Gwyneth but when  she made eye contact with me she quickly ducked her head, as if to hide from me. I frowned, but dismissed it.

"... Haunted," I caught the last of his sentence. "But I never had much bother until a few months back. And then the stiffs--" he cut himself off, seeing the offended look the man-who-asked-a-lot-of-questions gave him. "...the er, dear departed started getting restless." He corrected.

"Tommyrot," the man-whose-name-I-forgot muttered.

I frowned at the strange word, and lightly tugged on the Doctor's arm, "What does 'tommyrot' mean?" I whispered. 

"Rubbish, nonsense, foolishness, baloney, bananas, gibberish, irrationality, madness, dri--" he stopped at the look everyone else was giving him. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Right, carry on. Sorry." 

They looked away from the Doctor and kept arguing. "You witnessed it!" Sneed cried. "Can't keep the beggars down, sir! They walk. And it's the queerest thing that they hang on to scraps..." He trailed off. 

Gwyneth went to give the Doctor his tea, "Two sugars just like you like it." The Doctor looked up at her, but she quickly realized her mistake, and hurried off, into the other room. 

I looked back, the others were still discussing the gelth. "One old fella who used to be a sexton almost walked into his own memorial service!" Sneed said. "Just like the old lady going to your performance, sir! Just as she planned."

"Morbid fancy," the man-whose-name-I-probably-will-never-remember scoffed. 

I opened my mouth to ask what 'morbid fancy' meant, but stopped myself. Instead I said, "But you were there. You saw them move with your own eyes, so why are you still questioning it?" I took a sip of my water, and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

The man glared at me, "A child should not speak  put  of term. You do not understand what is happening. You should be at home, sleeping."

"I know more than you do!" I shot back angrily, crossing my arms over my chest. "We all saw them move. If anyone's acting like a child then  its  you." 

"You will not speak to me this way!" He exclaimed, shocked. 

"I'll speak to you anyway I want!" I said. 

"Augusta--" the Doctor began, but I cut him off. 

"The 'zombies' are going to come back any minute now, and you're sitting here pouting like a baby," I continued, throwing my hands up in the air. "If you think  its  a prank or not, what would be smartest thing to do is try to find out what can stop them, not act like it doesn't even exist!" 

"You will shut your mouth this second young lady," he said his face reddening with anger. 

"No, I will not 'shut my mouth'!" I mimicked his voice, clenching my cup with both my hands. "You saw them move and heard them speak! Don't you think that's enough to believe that there's something other than a prank going on?!" 

"August--" the Doctor tried again, but the man interrupted him. 

"That's what all this is. A prank! Just strings and wires! You're too uneducated and young to understand!" He shot back. 

"'Uneducated'?!" I exclaimed I didn't need the Doctor to tell me what that meant. "There is no strings or wires! People could die, and you'd think we'd play around with that?! You think this is a prank?! This could life-or-death situation and you're too worried about finding the strings and wires!"

"You don't know what you're talking about, girl!" He roared angrily, shooting up. 

"I do know what I'm talking about!" I said with equal anger, my squeezing my cup. "I sure as hell know that this is more than just a load of--" 

"Augusta!" The Doctor rose his voice, stopping me mid sentence. I whipped my head around, to see him sternly glaring at me, making me drop my glare. 

As soon as I did, my cup exploded. Glass sprayed everywhere, and steaming water staining my dress. "Good lord!" The man gasp, standing up from the table. "Are you okay, child?" 

Everyone else stood up, except for me, I was just sitting there, looking down at my hands watching the coffee evaporate off them, Did I do that? Was that because I got angry? My powers must've went out of control again. 

"Augusta, are you alright?" The Doctor asked, stretching a hand out to me, but I quickly pushed away from him, almost falling over my chair, and wiping my hands on my dress. 

"Yeah, fine," I said quickly. "Um, I'm going to go, I need to get something really quick. I'll be back later," I turned to run out the room quickly, and fled right out of the house and the empty, snowy street. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

Doctor's POV 

His eyes widened as the cup imploded in Augusta's hands. Everyone jumped back in surprise at the sudden action, but Augusta didn't move, she sat there, staring at her hands, watching the  steams  fly off them. 

He widened eyes narrowed as he realized that the liquid was bubbling on her hands, evaporating off them. Was she doing this? He thought, How?

He set aside his thoughts for later, "Augusta, are you alright?" He asked reaching out a hand to her, but she moved away instantly, almost falling over her chair trying to do so. 

"Yeah, fine," she answered quickly. "Um, I'm going to go, I need to get something really quick. I'll be back later," she turned to run out of the room. 

"Wait! Augusta!" He called after her, but she was already gone. 

"Doctor..." Rose said, but trailed off. 

He crossed his arms over his chest and sighed, "I need to go after her," He said and pointed to Rose. "You stay here, you're in charge. Nobody does anything until I come back!" 

"Why is she in charge?" Dickens asked. 

"Because she wasn't arguing with a fourteen year old!" He answered running out of the room and after his companion. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

Augusta's POV

I stopped running after at least ten minutes, and went to go sit down on a nearby bench that faced a park. I was breathing heavily, the dress was super tight, and I felt like my legs were jelly.

I let my anger get the best of me. I almost hurt people. I could've burned down that house! I could've killed everyone just because I couldn't control myself! 

I clenched the edge of the bench, blinking away hot tears. I would never be able to control it! I would always be a monster! I'm a horrible person. No wait, I'm not even a person. I'm a thing. I can't even think of myself being a person anymore. I was a mistake. A murderer. A monster. 

I could've killed that man and the Doctor. I could've hurt everyone. I could've killed everyone! I--I couldn't control it! I shouldn't even be here! What if I accidentally killed the Doctor?! Who would save the universe? Who would save earth?! I could destroy a whole race of people! 

What if I hurt Rose? Would the Doctor kill me? He really liked Rose, if not now, then later. If he saw that I was a threat, would he kill me? Would he test on me? Would give me to them? 

The Doctor has killed billions of people, he ended the Time Lords because they were a threat, he could do the same to me just as easily. 

The smell of burning reaching my nose, and I looked down to see the wooden bench sizzling from my touch. I gasped and quickly let go, cradling my hand to my chest. I almost did it again! This was exactly what I meant! I--

"Augusta!!" The Doctor's voice called. I turned to see him racing over to me quickly. A thousand thoughts raced through my mind, he's here already! 

what will he do?! Did he see me break to cup? Was he mad at me for arguing with the man earlier? Did he hate me? Was he going to yell at me? What would I say? Would I tell him about my powers? 

My eyes darted back and forth as I thought of what to do. Eventually, I just kept my eyes transfixed on the ground, not wanting to make contact with his soul-searching blue eyes. 

"Augusta, what happened? Why did you run off like that?" He asked, but I didn't answer. When before noticed this, he sighed. "If that's how we're going to do this, then okay." He took a seat beside me on the bench. "I can wait." 

After sitting there for a few second, he went to check his watch. Then he pulled out his sonic and began to toss it up and down. Then he put it back and checked his watch again. He tapped his foot impatiently and whistled a unknown tune. 

Finally he sighed loudly, "Can you please tell me what's wrong, this is boring! I hate waiting!" He said impatiently. 

A smile cracked on my face, but I quickly dropped it. "... I'm sorry," I finally said. 

"Why are you sorry? You didn't do anything." 

"I lost my temper. I lost control. I could've killed everyone," I said the last part quietly. 

"It was an accident. No harm no foul," he shrugged. 

I laughed humorlessly. "It's always just an accident though. I always mess up. I always find a way to hurt someone! Didn't you see what I did to Rose? You were right, I could've killed her--" 

"But you didn't, and that's what matters," he said. 

"But I could've! You don't understand Doctor. Nobody does," I felt a tear fall out of my eyes, but I quickly wipes it away. I've been crying too much lately. I was much better than this. I needed to stop acting like a baby. 

"Augusta, I understand," he said, but I snorted. 

"How could you understand?" I asked angrily. "You been surrounded by people who love you all your life! You're perfect! You could have anything you wanted!" 

"How would you know that?" He asked, anger seeping into his voice. 

"Because your life is a TV show and it isn't real!" I yelled, motioning to everything. "THIS! It's all supposed to be a TV show! You don't exist! This shouldn't exist!" 

"You're beginning to sound like Dickens. How can this not be real? Does it look real?"

"It-- it just can't!" My voice cracked, and my tone lowered. 

"Does it look real?" He asked again. 

"Well-- Yeah, but--" 

"Then what's your problem? You've seen how the TARDIS can travel in time. Does that really seem like something from a telly show? Why are you upset?" 

I opened my mouth to say something, but I stopped myself. "I just... I..." I was at a loss for words. 

"Exactly. You can't say why  its  not real because you know it is. You're just like all the other stupid apes on this planet. Don't believe anything you don't understand," he scoffed. 

I frowned. "I'm not a 'stupid ape'," I mumbled. "I'm not even human, remember? '48% human, 52% something else'," I mimicked his voice, remembering what he said the other day. 

"Doesn't mean you can't think like one," he argued. "And don't even go yelling at me for being surround by people! You're still a kid! I bet you had your little circle of friends where you'd laugh and giggle and go do each other's nails and have all sorts of fun!" 

"No I didn't..." 

"Oh and now you're lying straight to my face also!" He laughed. "Might as well yell that you don't trust me!" 

"But I'm not!" I retorted, "I've never actually had a friend before! Ever! In fact, before you guys, nobody really even talked to me kindly, or actually appreciated my existence! So don't call me out lying because I never did!" 

The was a short silence between us, and I realized what I had just said. "Nobody's ever spoken kindly of you ever?" The Doctor asked, he didn't sound mad anymore. 

"No... They were usually mad and scary," I muttered. 

"Augusta... I... I didn't know. I'm sorry," he tried to apologize, but I shoved it off. 

"Save it," I muttered. "I don't care anymore. Sorry for yelling at that man earlier."

"You mean Dickens?" The Doctor clarified. 

"Yeah, whatever his name was." An awkward silence settled between us. I felt the Doctor shift on the bench uncomfortably. 

"Augu--" 

"Doctor?" I cut him off. 

"Yeah?" 

"What... Is love?" I asked curiously. I don't know why I asked, but its just something that's been on my mind for a long time... 

He took a sharp breath, "Love is when you feel strongly for someone else, and it hurts to be away. Sometimes, love is when you want to protect someone and will do anything for them. Sometimes, when you love someone and they get hurt, you get mad."

"Doctor?" 

"Mh-hmm?" 

"What... What does it feel like... To be loved?" 

"It can feel like a lotta different things. Sometimes, it feels warm. Like sitting near a fire. Other times, it can feel... Bad. Like it hurts but you can't stop thinking about them..." He trailed off, to think. "Sometimes, it just feels... Bubbly. And you're happy when you're around that person. Like I said, a lotta different types..." He trailed off, scratching his neck. 

"Doctor?" 

"Yes?" 

"Is it bad to... Want to feel love?" I asked again, playing with the edge of my gloves. 

"Never," he answered without hesitation. 

"What do you do... To feel loved?" I asked.  

"Well, some people give each other hugs. Others kiss them. It depends on the person," the Doctor explained. 

"What's a hug?" I asked. 

The Doctor went silent for a few moments. Then I felt his large arms wrap around my body, pulling me into his chest. I jumped at the sudden contact, about to pull away, but something inside me made me stop. I don't know why, but I relaxed in his hold. What was I doing? I thought, I shouldn't be letting him touch me! Why don't I pull away? Why don't I struggle? Why... Why do I feel so... Warm? 

What's going on? I don't understand. Why was he holding me like this? 

"This is a hug," he whispered into my hair, quieting my thoughts. "If you ever want me to give you one then just ask, got that?" I left him press his lips against my forehead.

"What was that?" I asked quietly.

"That was a kiss," he explained softly. "Augusta, just so you know, I love you. Its always okay to want to feel loved, and whatever is bothering you, then you can always tell me, because I will never feel any different. I will always love you, no matter what." 

I looked up at him, and his crystal blue eyes stared back. "N-no matter what?" I asked, hesitantly, looking up into his baby blue eyes for the first time since I came out here. 

He looked down at me, his eyes filled with something that I didn't recognize. "No matter what," he confirmed. 

I felt something wet on my face, and I quickly wiped it away, but it kept coming. I felt the Doctor stroke my long curly dark hair softly. "It's okay if you want to cry. I'll still love you." 

With those words, I began to cry loudly into his jacket, as he gently stroked my hair. I sobbed clinging to his black jacket, letting everything out. I felt like a dam of emotions broke through and went all over the Doctor. 

Once my sobbing quieted down, I began to wipe my eyes. "I-I-I'm so-sorry," I hiccupped. "Y-You're ja-jacket is we-we-wet." 

He chuckled, making his chest rumble deeply. "It's fine," he said. "Are you okay now?" 

I sniffed and nodded, "I-I'm s-sorry." 

"It's fine," he repeated. "We can go back whenever you're ready." 

I nodded, wiping my puffy eyes. "Okay..." I pulled out how his hold, and began to stand up. I cleared my throat, "We need to go. Who knows what they've burned down by now." 

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked, watching me. 

"I'll be fine," I answered taking a deep breath. The Doctor watched me for a minute, before getting off the bench himself. 

"Okay then, lets head back," we began our trek back to the house, silently. After a few minutes, the Doctor spoke up, Were you... Mimicking my voice earlier?" He asked, curiosity played in his voice. 

"Oh, yeah. It's just something I found out I could do a long time ago. It's kinda easy," I shrugged. 

He rose an eyebrow, "Show me." 

"Okay... Say something for me to say." 

"Say... 'Time And Relative Dimension In Space'." 

"Time And Relative Dimension In Space," I repeated mimicking his voice perfectly. 

The doctor looked at me intriguingly. "Interesting..." 

"Interesting..." I repeated. 

"No tricks at all too."

"No tricks at all too." 

"Are you just copying the wavelengths with your voice?" He pulled out the sonic screwdriver and scanned me. 

"Are you just copying the wavelengths with your voice?" 

After he finished he looked at it, "Yeah. Pretty much. But your vocal cords are still underdeveloped, and so it shouldn't be able to be used like anything like this yet."

"Yeah. Pretty much. But your vocal cords are still underdeveloped, and so it shouldn't be able to be used like anything like this yet," I repeated. 

"Okay you can stop now," he asks, putting away his sonic. 

"Okay you can stop now," I repeated. 

"No seriously, stop," he said again. 

"No seriously, stop," I repeated. 

"This isn't funny!" He argued. 

"This isn't funny!" I repeated.

"Augusta!" 

"Augusta!" 

"Stop it!" 

A smile crept on my lips and I stopped mimicking him. "Okay, okay, I'll stop." 

"Good," he nodded, walking faster. "We need to hurry up and get back. Who knows what they've done by now." He muttered, and grabbed my hand sprinting down the street, dragging me behind him. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

Luckily the house was still standing once we came back, the Doctor let go of my hand, and began to walk into the unlocked door. 

I was staring at the Doctor curiously, he had held my hand for a full five minutes and hadn't froze to death. I stared down at my hand, where the glove was a bit crinkled. I didn't feel like my powers were flaring, which was unusual. 

Earlier when I was crying, I hadn't froze or burned him either. It was like, my powers just... Disappeared. I frowned, no, not disappeared. More like slept. It didn't respond to my emotions like they would usually do. They just stopped. 

"Augusta, c'mon," the Doctor called, inviting me into the house, and pulling me away from my thoughts. 

I walked into the house, to see Sneed and 'Dickens', as the Doctor called him, arguing. 

"I'm telling you, this isn't real, just strings!" Dickens cried. 

"You tell me that when someone dies," Sneed shot back. "I've been here a long time, and I know there isn't any strings involved!" 

I sighed as Dickens stormed off angrily. The Doctor was supposed to talk to him, maybe then he'll stop complaining about strings. 

I tapped Sneed on the shoulder, "Where's Rose?" I asked. 

"In the kitchen with Gwyneth," he answered, not taking his eyes off Dickens. "Don't you walk off on me...!"

I tuned them out after that, and made my way to Rose and Gwyneth -- surprisingly not getting lost while doing so. 

I heard their voices in the kitchen, "... Lost my mum and dad to the flu when I was twelve," I heard Gwyneth say as  I entered the room. 

Rose turned to look over at me. "Augusta! Are you alright!? What happened? Why'd you run off like that? I was so worried." She ran over to me, but I sidestepped before she could touch me. The Doctor hadn't froze to death from touching me, which was good, but I'm not pushing my luck. 

"Yeah, I'm fine," I answered. "Don't worry about me, just needed a bit of cheering up," I shrugged, and looked up at Gwyneth. "Hi Gwyneth!" I hadn't actually greeted her since I came, so I thought now would be a good time to do so. 

"They-- They hurt you!" She blurted out, making my eyes widened. How did she know about that? Was it because of her 'sight'? "They would always hurt you!"

"What... What are you talking about? Who would hurt me?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. Was she talking about them? Why was she talking about them?

"They hurt you!" She continued. "Oh the pain! The laughter! I can hear them! They wanted you, you were special." She gasped, "Wh-what's this? Why is there fire? W-why are they-- Oh good lord, they're burning! You're burning them! How are you-- you're killing them! Their screams! I can hear the screams in agony!" 

"Stop it Gwyneth!" I said angrily. "Just stop!" 

"No, they're not burning, you're freezing them! No wait, your suffocating-- crushing-- torturing! You're torturing them! Stop, stop it! You're killing them all!!" She screamed, covering her ears over her head and falling to her knees. "Stop it, please! Stop! I don't want to see this anymore!" 

"Gwyneth!" Rose cried, taking her by her shoulders, and glared at me. "Augusta, are you doin' this?!" 

"No... I--" I was cut off by the Doctor and the others racing through the doors, pointing his sonic at the air. 

When he saw that nothing was flying through the air, he put it away. "What's going on? What's wrong with Gwyneth?" Sneed asked, going over to the sobbing woman. "Are you alright?" 

She stopped crying and looked up at me, her eyes filled with something that I hadn't seen in a long, long time. Fear. Pure horror. And it was directed at me. "You're a monster," she whispered, but I had heard her. 

... Monster...?

"GWYNETH!" Rose exclaimed shocked, and turned to me. "She didn't mean it love, I promise!" She assured me. 

"Augusta," The Doctor said slowly, eyeing me cautiously. "Are you okay?" 

I looked over at him robotically, seeing his eyes shine with worry, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. We didn't have the time for being dramatic anymore. The Doctor has wastes enough time with me, we needed to get to worry about the Gelth before my personal problems. 

"Yeah," I said shakily, and cleared my throat. "Yeah, I'm fine." 

I saw him exhale, relieved, and went to go help Gwyneth with the others, while I stood beside the wall watching him. Gwyneth was apologizing frantically, while explaining her sight to them.

My mind wandered elsewhere, thinking about the words she said. She had seen when I escaped, and all the people I killed doing so. She knew about it. All of it. 

Would she tell them? Would she tell the Doctor what she saw. Would the Doctor make me tell him? I ran a hand through my hair and looked up at the ceiling. Why does it always have to come down to this? Why did it have to be so complicated? Why did Gwyneth have to use her sight on me? I thought-- no, I knew she was going to use Rose! 

I sighed again, I'm changing the story. I'm changing the plotline! Could I create a paradox? What would happen if I did? Would the Doctor be mad at me? 

I looked over to where everyone was in deep conversation. The Doctor stood their, nodding at Gwyneth's words. I watched as Gwyneth stood their, with a determined look on her face. Gwyneth was going to die, and she didn't even know. She was standing right here, living perfectly fine, and I knew she was going to die. Nobody else, but me. 

Maybe I could save her, I thought hopefully. The first life I've ever saved. I could help her, try to warn the Doctor of the Gelth. Get him to not open the Rift. That way, everyone lives. 

"... have a séance," the Doctor said, making me look up. Everyone was moving towards the door, and I followed them. 

Something grabbed my arm, making my jump, and quickly pull it away. I turned around to see the Doctor, crossing his arms over his chest, and staring intently at me. 

I shrunk under his gaze, "... Yes?" 

"What was Gwyneth rambling about earlier?" He asked seriously. I looked away, pulling at the edges of my gloves. 

"I dunno," I lied. 

"Augusta, don't lie to me," he scolded. 

"I-- It's-- I..." I stumbled over my words before finishing with a heavy sigh. "Can we wait, until this all is finished?" I asked hopefully, referring to the problems with the Gelth. "I'll explain when we get back to the TARDIS." 

"... Fine, but when we get back, you're going to explain everything to me," he said and left me in the room. 

When he left down the hallway, I sighed. Great, now I've got to think of a convincing lie so he doesn't figure out, get him not to open the Rift, and save Gwyneth. 

I began to head for the door also, wondering if this is what the Doctor is thinking whenever he's trying to help people. I was semi-grateful I didn't have to worry about everyone like the Doctor does. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

Later, everyone was sitting at the table, except for me, I was standing off to the side. "Augusta, come on, we're wasting time," the Doctor said, but I shook my head rebelliously. 

"Nope," I said. "You guys will be perfectly fine without me." I took my chair and dragged it away from the table. They were all holding hands, but I refused to do so, for obvious reasons.

"All you have to do is hold my hand. I promise its clean," the Doctor teased, but I looked at him seriously. 

"No. I'm not holding you hand," I said firmly. 

"You don't hav'ta hold his hand. You can hold mine if you wanna," Rose suggest, but I shook my head, no. 

"I can't hold any of your hands," I tried to explain. "Just do the thing without me. You'll be fine." 

The Doctor gave me a long look, but sighed, "Fine, we'll do it with you. Go on Gwyneth." 

"I-I can't take part in this," Dickens says beginning to get up. 

"Humbug? Come on not you too! Have a open mind," the Doctor said. 

"This is precisely the sort of cheap mummery I try to un-mask," Dickens explained, "Séances? Nothing but luminous tambourines and a squeeze box concealed between the knees. This girl knows nothing. The child is wise to not participate in such a ritual." 

I frowned, "That's not why I'm not joining you guys," I mumbled, but nobody hear me. 

"Now, don't antagonize her," the Doctor pouted slightly, "I love a happy medium." He grinned at her, making her smile softly. 

"I can't believe you just said that," Rose muttered, shaking her head. 

"C'mon, we might need you," the Doctor said. Dickens looked at him, but reluctantly sat down. 

"Good man!" The Doctor praised, "Now, Gwyneth. Reach out." 

Gwyneth closed her eyes, I watched her intently, "Speak to us. Are you there? Spirits?" She says softly, "Come. Speak to us that we may relieve your burden." She looked up at the ceiling and a quiet murmuring fills the room. 

"Can you hear that?" Rose said in awe. 

"Nothing can happen," Dickens argued, "This is sheer folly!" 

"Look at her," Rose motioned to Gwyneth, who was gasping. 

"I feel them. I feel them!" Gwyneth exclaimed as the gases began to fill the room.

"What are they saying?" Rose asked. 

"They can't get through the rift," the Doctor said. "Gwyneth, it's not controlling you, you're controlling it. Now look deep. Allow them through." 

"I-I can't!" Gwyneth cried.

"Yes you can," the Doctor encouraged, "Just believe it. I have faith in you, Gwyneth. Make the link."

A pained look flashes across Gwyneth's face, but suddenly, she drops her head and her eyes snapped open. I leaned in curiously, watching her every movement. 

"Yes," her stressful tone dropped to a more determined, serious one. 

Suddenly, three gaseous figures appear behind Gwyneth. Sneed gasped, "Great God. Sprits from the other side!" 

"The other side of the universe," the Doctor mumbled, making me crack a smile. 

"Pity us. Pity the Gelth," the Gelth begged, their voices sounding like a child's voice. "There is so little time, help us."

"What do you want us to do?" The Doctor asked.

"The rift. Take the girl to the rift. Make the bridge," the replied. 

"We are so very few. The last of our kind. We face extinction." 

"How much?" I spoke up, making heads turn towards me. "How much is a few?" 

"Pity us!" They cried, avoiding my question. 

"Answer the question," I said, crossing my arms. "Because a few could mean a lot of things." 

"Just a few," they insisted.

"You're not answering my question," I said. "How much is--" 

"Augusta," the Doctor interrupted. "If you're not in the circle, then you don't get a say." 

"What?" I cried, shocked. "Are you serious? It's a perfectly good question! All I asked is 'how many'!" I was just trying to help, if they admitted that there was much more than the Doctor realized, then maybe he wouldn't help them, and nobody had to die. 

"He is right," Dickens agreed. "A child should not participate in such affairs!" 

I gave him the 'seriously?' look, and sighed. "Fine, whatever, don't listen to me! Go ahead and 'pity the gelth'! See if I care!" I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest, looking away. 

"What happened to you? Why is there so few?" The Doctor continued asking them. 

"Once we had a physical form like you," they explained, "But then the war came."

"What war?" 

"The Time War," they said soberly."The whole universe convulsed. The Time War raged invisible to smaller species but devastating to higher forms. Our bodies wasted away. We're trapped in this gaseous state."

"So that's why you need the corpses," the Doctor said in realization. 

"We want to stand tall. To feel the sunlight. To live again," the Gelth gushed, "We need a physical form, and your dead are abandoned. They're going to waste, give them to us!" 

"But we can't," Rose said. 

"Why not?" The Doctor asked. 

"It's not... I mean, it's not..." Rose was tongue-tied. 

"It's not decent? Not polite?" The Doctor suggested. "It could save their lives!" 

"You should listen to Rose," I mumbled, making him turn towards me. 

"And what do you know?" He challenged.

"I know enough not to trust them!" I shot back.  

"You're putting trust over the lives of another living being!" He argued. "They're just as living as you are, you know." 

"Of course I know that!" I said. "I just think we should learn more about them before giving them the key to rebooting their race!" 

"We don't exactly have the time to sit down for tea." 

"We don't exactly have to trust them instantly either!"

"So we should just let them die?!" 

I hesitated, "Not necessarily." 

"Open the rift. Let the Gelth through. We're dying. Help us. Pity the Gelth!" The Gelth cried, breaking up our argument.  Then the Gelth left, and Gwyneth slammed her head on the table. 

Rose stood up quickly, taking the woman by her shoulders. "Gwyneth!" 

"All true," Dickens whispered to himself. 

"Are you okay?" 

"It's all true," Dickens muttered. 

Meanwhile, the Doctor and I were having our own staring contest, while everyone else was rushing about. I was the first to break away, and went to go help Rose with Gwyneth, carrying her to the other room. I could feel the Doctor's hard stares burning into my back as we left the room. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

Rose was dabbing Gwyneth's head gently with a damp towel, while I sat beside her, watching her as she worked. 

Then Gwyneth stirred and her eyes fluttered open. "It's alright, you just sleep," Rose told her. 

"But my angels, miss. They came, didn't they?" Her voice was groggy, but you could hear her determination. "They need me?" 

"No they don't," I told her. "Not right now, at least." 

"But they do need me, later that is?" Gwyneth asked. 

"They do need you, Gwyneth. You're they're only chance of survival," the Doctor said from the corner, making me jump slightly. I had forgotten that he was there. 

"No, you're not Gwyneth," I insisted. 

"Why are you lying to her?" The Doctor asked. 

"I'm not lying. I'm telling you the truth, Gwyneth, I promise," I gave her a more or less of a desperate look. "Listen to me, okay? You don't have to help them. You don't have to do anything. You can leave them." 

"Augusta, stop," the Doctor growled. 

"They're lying to you. You don't need to help them, at all. I promise you, they'll be fine without you," I continued. 

Suddenly, I felt the Doctor grabbing my arm, and pulling me away. "Stop it! She needs to hear this! She doesn't have to help them!" I cried as the Doctor pulled me into a different room. He lead me into a semi-small closet and turned on the candle with his sonic.

"What are you trying to do?" The Doctor asked me. I didn't answer, and tried to get past him. "Why are you so against the Gelth?" 

"I'm trying to help!" I said. "You don't understand!" 

"Oh I do," the Doctor said, making me look up at him, wide eyed. He knew that the Gelth was bad! Was he faking trying to help them this whole time? Maybe my presence here had changed his mind about them! Maybe he would listen to me, and was going to trick the Gelth and--

"I don't know what kind of grudge you have against the Gelth, but I will not allow it," the Doctor said, making my heart stop. W-what? "I'm going to go make sure the Gelth survive, and then I'm taking you to the Shadow Proclamation for trying to prevent the prosperity of a race!" 

"W-what?" I was confused. "What do you mean? I'm not-- that's not--" 

"Oh save it," the Doctor growled. "I'm taking you to the Shadow Proclamation, and until then, you're staying in here." 

He moved so quick, my eyes couldn't keep up, and a second later, I was in the closet with a single burning candle by myself. I heard whirring and a lock, breaking me out of my trance. I quickly hurried over to the door, only to find it was locked. 

"Don't try, it's dead-bolted. You're not getting out of there anytime soon." I hears another whirring sound, "And I put a sound barrier on it, so nobody will be able to hear you either," he said from the other side of the door. "I'll be back after I save the Gelth." I heard his footsteps walking away, ignoring my loud poundings on the door. 

"No! Doctor! Please!" I cried, but I heard no response. "Doctor! Doctor!!" He really locked me in here and was still going to help the Gelth! 

My poundings slowly stopped, and I backed away from the door in horror and realizations, this house was going to explode, and I was going to be stuck in here! "DOCTOR!! DOCTOR, NO! PLEASE!" 

"DOOOCCCCTTTTOOOORRRR!!!!!!!" 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

Doctor's POV

He had been really disappointment that he had to come down to the conclusion that she had some kind of grudge against the Gelth. 

It had made some kind of sense though, if she had been a time traveler, then that would make sense how she knew about the Gelth. Maybe their timelines were backwards so something, he wasn't sure. 

This would also explain how her cells had been ruptured, even if it had been by Void Energy. And maybe that little event earlier with her crying had been just an act. He had to admit, he truly believed that she was emotionally unstable, but it had all been a hoax anyways. 

He didn't understand her grudge though, what could a fourteen-year old girl have over the Gelth, an entire species of people? The Gelth hadn't been the nicest species, but for her to act that way? He had seen the how desperate she was to make sure he didn't help them. At least she had been somewhat peaceful in opposition to them, and didn't start shooting them full of bullets like most Americans he had met. 

He sighed and entered the morgue with the others, he would have to worry about her later, right now they had to help the Gelth. He looked around the morgue, it had been very... Dark. And musty. He spotted a few cob webs in the corner. There was a few tables that held a few human corpses.

"Talk about Bleak House," he commented more to himself. 

"The thing is, Doctor-- the Gelth don't succeed," Rose spoke up, making him look down at her. She had been a bit short for a human. "'Cause I know they don't. I know for a fact there weren't corpses walking around in 1869."

"Time's in flux. It's changing every second. Your cozy little world could be rewritten like that," he explained and snapped his fingers. "Nothing is safe. Remember that. Nothing." 

"Doctor," Dickens said, drawing his attention. "I think the room is getting colder!" 

"Here they come," Rose took a deep breath.

"You have come to help! Praise the Doctor! Praise him!" The Gelth cheered happily. 

"Promise you won't hurt her," Rose said, but the Gelth ignored her. 

"Hurry! Please. So little time. Pity the Gelth," they said. 

"I'll take you somewhere else after the transfer," he explained. "Somewhere you can build proper bodies. This isn't a permanent solution, alright?" 

"My angels. I can help them live!" Gwyneth awed. 

"Okay, where's the weak spot?" He asked, getting straight to the point.

"Here, beneath the arch," the Gelth instructed, pointing the arch in front of them. 

Gwyneth nodded, and moved under the arch, "Beneath the arch." 

Rose hurried over to her, "You don't have to do this," she tried to persuade her. She placed a hand on Rose's cheek and looked longingly into her eyes. 

"My angels," She whispered, making Rose back up. 

"Establish the bridge," the Gelth instructed. "Reach out of the void, let us through!" Suddenly, he had a bad feeling in his gut, but pushed it away and watched the servant girl. 

"Yes. I can see you! I can see you! Come!" Gwyneth cried. 

"Bridge establishing," the Gelth announced. The feeling worsened, making him frown.

"Come! Come to me!" Gwyneth said. "Come to this world, poor lost souls!"

"It's begun! The bridge is made!" They cried happily. Gwyneth opened her mouth, and gelth pooled out of it. He began to narrow his eyes at the quantity of the Gelth. He had thought they said few... "She had given herself to the Gelth!"

"There's quite a bit of them, eh?" Dickens commented, speaking his thoughts. 

"The bridge is open, we will descend!" The Gelth turned from a baby blue to a demonic red. "We will come through using force!" 

His eyes fractioned as he realized that the Gelth were for I their way through Gwyneth! They were going to kill her! 

Maybe Augusta had been right to question them... 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

Augusta's POV

I began to cough loudly, they must've been filling the rooms with gases now. I began to pound weakly on the walls. I needed to leave or else I would suffocate, but how? 

If I burned down the door, then I could burn down the while house also. Maybe if I froze it and broke it instead? 

I quickly fumbled with my gloves, taking them off, and pressing both arms firmly on the door. I pushed whatever energy I had into the door handle, focusing on freezing the door opposed to burning it. 

Quickly, ice spread out in and around my hands, I coughed harder and kept pushing whatever I could into it. I felt my energy drain quickly as I finished. I weakly walked over to the side, where I found a wooden broom leaning against the wall. 

I snatched the broom off the wall and held it again the door. Taking a deep breath, I slammed it down on the knob, successfully shattering the knob, and snapping the broom in half. 

I threw open the door, and made my way out of the house, putting my dress over my mouth and coughing heavily. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

Doctor's POV

When they had been outside, getting ready to light the building in order to get rid of the Gelth that caused the death of Sneed and Gwyneth. He looked over at Rose and put his arm around her comfortingly. He had known how close she had been to Gwyneth.

"Doctor," Rose said, making him look down at her, "Where's Augusta?" 

He froze. He put trapped Augusta in the closet! She was still in the house! "DICKENS WAIT!" He cried, but it was too late. 

Dickens had dropped the lit match in the gas-filled building. Fire spread quickly as it licked the wood building, fueling even faster with the flammable smoke. 

He watched in horror as he heard the sounds of the Gelth's dying screams, but there was no sign of Augusta. 

"Doctor! Doctor, where's Augusta!? Please don't tell me she is in the house!!" Rose cried, taking him by his arm. 

"I-I'm sorry," he whispered, "I'm so, so sorry." He had killed her. If he only trusted her then she wouldn't have died. He had urged her to trust him, but he didn't even trust her himself. He had set her up for death, and-- 

He was cut off by a book making contact with his head. "OW!" He cried as it ricocheted off his head and hitting the floor. He looked up to see a broken window, where the book must've came from. Nobody had been in the house, except Augusta! She must still be alive!

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

Augusta's POV 

The fire was spreading quickly and it completely covered the staircase downstairs. Even if I went through the flames,  there would still be even more gas down there, and I would suffocate if not from the gases but of the smoke. 

But there was no other way for me to  get out, I was on the third level! I glanced back down the steps to see another window, and a bookshelf beside it, that was burning quickly. 

Thinking quickly I raced down the steps, through the fire that engulfed my dress and tickled my skin, and over to the book shelf. I covered my mouth, trying not to breath in all the smoke, and found the biggest book I could. 

I snatched it off the shelf, and chucked it at the window. The sound of the glass shattering victoriously, reached my ears. I quickly threw whatever else I could at the window, shattering it completely. 

I walked back at the blazing red flames and got a head start. Then I took off into the jagged edges of the burning window and jumped as hard as I could out of it. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

The Doctor's POV 

As he stood at the ground, looking at the broken window that had rained books, a flaming figure jumped through the air, out of the second story window. 

The three of them jumped back as the fiery figure fell to the ground, rolling and skidding to a stop. "AUGUSTA!" He shouted, rushing over to the girl who was moaning at the ground withering in pain.

Her purple dress had been burned off completely, leaving the white under layers of the dress, that was completely singed and burned. Her hair was being smothered by the snow on the ground, that was steaming from the flames. Her bare arms were cut from the jagged glass edges of the window. Her left arm was bent at an awkward position. 

Even in her condition, she was still breathing, if not roughly. It must've been from smoke and gas inhalation. "She's okay!" He announced, picking her up and dashing down the street. She needed immediate medical attention. 

Rose, followed him as they made their way into the TARDIS. Dickens stayed behind and waved goodbye. "D-Do-Do--" Augusta tried to say, but he shushed her. 

"Hush. You shouldn't be talking," he told her firmly as they entered the Medical Bay. 

"G-Gel-Gelth... Th-They b-b-ba-bad," she coughed.

He smiled, she had still wanted to warn him. He set her down on the bed, and Rose talked to her while he collected supplies. He needed to get the gases out of her system first of all. He placed a gas mask over her mouth and began to cleanse her lungs. 

"Gwyn-Gwyneth..." she stuttered. She was worried about Gwyneth. 

"Shh," Rose said, pushing her hair out of her eyes. "It's okay." 

"W-wan-wanted... To Sa-sav-save..." She continued, falling in a fit of coughs. She wanted to save her. That must've been why she was so against the Gelth. She knew Gwyneth was going to die. How did she know that though? 

He ran over to a drawer and pulled out a small bottle of medicine and a spoon. He poured the medicine in the large spoon and gave it to her. "Drink this," he ordered pouring the medical down her throat making her scrunch face in disgust. 

"What was that?" Rose asked as she fell asleep instantly. 

"Sleeping medicine," he said, "Dulls the senses and puts you in sleep until you get the antidote. Completely forgot I had that. Thought I lent it to friend or used it all." 

He pulled out a bunch of different supplies, most of which not from Earth. He quickly scanned her probably-broken arm from his machine. There was a fracture in the bone structure, and looked like it would take some time to heal. 

"Is she gonna be al'ight?" Rose asked worryingly. 

"... Yeah," he said. "She's a tough one. She'll be fine," he told her reassuringly, hoping to calm her racing nerves. He cleared his throat. "How 'bout you go and lie down, it's been a long day," he suggested. 

"Yeah... I'll go do that..." She said, walking out of the room. "Tell me if anything happens with 'er, got it?" 

"'Course," he agreed, and she left the room. He went over to the sleeping girl. She would most likely need surgery on her arm, it wouldn't take long to do so though. He took the gas-mask off her, it had finished getting the gases out of her system by now. 

He needed to check her arms, he needed to see how deep the cuts from the glass were. When he went for her arm, her arm moved quickly, snatching his wrist. He looked up to see Augusta's eyes opened, looking down at him. 

"Don't," she warned. "Don't touch me." He voice was weak and slurred. 

"How are you awake?" He asked, he gave her the medicine just minutes ago! There's no way for her to get that out of her system so quickly. She moved to sit up, but he pushed her back down. Awake or not, she was in no condition to sit up. "You need to rest." 

"I'm... fine," she said.

"You jumped out a window," he argued. "How could you possibly be fine?" 

She didn't answer. "You need to rest," he continued. "You're arm is broken and you're still badly hurt." 

"... I'll be fine," she insisted. "I'm... tough." She gave him a weak smile, but he frowned. She was sleeping when he said that, how had she heard him?  

"You need to sleep," he got up to get the medicine. 

"Don't bother... with that. I'll just burn... right through it," she told him, making him turn around. What does she mean by that? "And I heal quickly, so there's no real need to worry about me." She sat up, and he made no move to stop her. 

"Yes there is! You jumped out a window!" 

"You were burning down the building!" She retorted, the weakness from her voice was gradually disappearing. "I was going to die if I didn't jump." 

He looked at her for a minute, she was giving him a long glare. "Right. You're right. You could've gotten killed," he muttered. "I'm sorry, for putting you in the closet and not listening to you." 

She looked away. "You left me there to die." 

"And I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," he said. "I almost killed you." 

She looked at him, her hazel brown eyes staring deeply into his blue ones. Her eyes were willed with hurt and abandonment. "You left me," her voice cracked and her eyes brimmed with tears. "I-I thought you were going to let me die. I thought you were going to kill me." Her hands clenched the sheets as tears stained them. 

He ran over and quickly enveloped her in a hug. "I'm so, so sorry I didn't trust you," he whispered into her ear. "I made a mistake, and I promise I won't ever do that again."

"I was so scared," she sobbed. "I didn't know what to do! I was scared."

"It's all right," he hushed her. "I'm here now. It's all right." He stroked her hair as she cried into his chest. He h eld her as her cries dimished to nothingness. He looked down to see the girl was lightly snoring in his jacket. She had cried herself to sleep. 

He chuckled lightly, and lied her back down on the bed, and got up. He needed to go park the TARDIS in the Time Vortex really quickly, and would come right back to the girl. 

He walked out of the room, leaving the sound of her snores echoing in the room behind him


	7. C H A P T E R  F I V E

 

Chapter 5:

Augusta's POV

I walked through the burning flames, not caring about the cries and screams in terror as I passed. Why didn't I care? People were hurt! Did I do this? "AUGUSTA!" Someone cried behind me. I turned around to see Rose, her eyes as wide as saucers, tear-streaks staining her usually rosy cheeks. She was also visibly shaking as if she was scared. Why was she scared?

"Augusta, please stop. This isn't you," she begged. I cocked my head to the side. This isn't me? What did she mean, this isn't me. 

Suddenly, my arm began to rise involuntarily. What's going on? I noticed they were also un-gloved. This-This isn't right! What's going on!? 

I felt my body building up energy as I pointed my arm at her. Rose stiffened, as if she couldn't move. "Rose! Get out of the way! I can't control it!!" I tried to say, but instead it came out as laughter. Evil, demonic laughter that sounded like a child's. Laughter similar, if not worse, than theirs! 

"AUGUSTA, please," Rose sobbed. "Don't do this, please!!" 

"ROSE!!" I cried, but nothing came out. Then I shot her, a massive fireball formed in my hand and shot straight through her chest, leaving a gaping hole. Her gasped in pain, and her eyes rolled back in her head. Steam emitting from her chest. Blood poured out of her chest and pooled unto the ground.

A single word left left her lips as she fell to the ground. "...Mon-ster..." 

I screamed, "ROSE!!!!" I KILLED HER! I-I actually killed her. Why? Why would kill her?! I felt tears form in my eyes, but nothing fell down my cheeks. It was like I couldn't even control my body! 

I heard footsteps tried down the hallway, and the sound of the Doctor's sonic. The Doctor! I thought in surprise. He would save me! Maybe he could help Rose too! 

When the Doctor appeared, he didn't look happy. He looked angry. No, furious. Furious would be an understatement. There wasn't word to describe the amount of fury shown on his face. 

"ROSE!" He yelled, diving at the already-dead body. He glared up at me, making me flinch. "What have you done?!!"

"I'm so sorry!" I tried to say, but instead I heard, "She opposed me." This wasn't my voice. This wasn't me. I don't know who this was! 

"You KILLED her!!" He roared. 

"I didn't mean to! I'm sorry!" I was horrified. I killed her. I killed Rose. I didn't mean to. I swear I didn't mean to! I don't know what's going on! 

"I don't care if Augusta is still in there or not at this point," the Doctor said lowly, standing up. "I'm going to stop you."

"You would kill your own companion? Your own friend!" The other voice exclaimed.

"In order to save countless other people, yes," he answered. "I am the Doctor. The Last of the Timelords. The Oncoming Storm, and I will stop you." He pointed his sonic at me, and instantly the ear-piercing ringing noise returned, making me grab my ears, in pain. I felt like my ears were bleeding. Like they were bursting! 

"What do you think you can accomplish by pointing a screwdriver at me?" The other voice sneered. 

"You won't be able to survive without a host," he said, not stopping the sonic. 

"Stop!" I cried. "Make it stop!!" 

"What? What are you doing?! You're killing her!" The other voice said in shock. "How? How are you doing this?! Stop it! Stop it this instant!"

"Please! Stop!!" I looked up at him, to see his piercing blue eyes set into a heavy glare. He wasn't going to stop anytime soon. He was going to kill me!! "Please..." I whispered before everything went black.

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

Augusta's POV

I shot up quickly, seeing the Doctor staring straight at me. I jumped back in suprise, panting heavily. "I'm sorry," I whispered, recalling the horrid nightmare. "I'm so sorry..." Tears dropped from my eyes, as I stared at the Doctor in shock. 

"Augusta, it was just a dream," he said, "Nothing's gonna hurt you." 

"I killed her..." My voice shook with fear, and I stared at my hands. "I... I killed her..." 

"You mean Rose? Rose's fine, I promise," he assured, but I shook my head.

"I hurt her, and..." A sob chocked my throat. "I.. I..." 

"Augusta, its fine," he said, placing a hand on my bare hand. Before I could warn him, I felt my powers flare. He quickly took his hand back, and frowned at me, cradling his hand. "You... You burned me," he said like he couldn't believe the words. 

My eyes went wide, "I'm sorry!" I pushed my hands to my chest. "I didn't mean to, I swear! I-I just... That happens and--" 

"How did you burn me?" He asked, surprised. 

"I'm so, so sorry!" I cried. He was mad at me! "I-I didn't mean to hurt you!" What was he going to do? Was he going to hurt me? I cursed myself for letting my emotions control my powers. 

His eyes fractioned, "No, it's fine! See, all fine! Just blistering a bit. Nothing to worry about." He grinned, making me stop my tears. Why was he happy? I just burned his hand and he was smiling. Was he faking it? Why? Would he hurt me for hurting him? 

"I-I didn't mean to hurt you," I whispered. "I was just scared and..." I trailed off. 

"S'okay, we all get scared every now and then," he grinned. 

"Even you?" 

He nodded, "Even me." He moved to sit on the edge of the bed, and I made no move to stop him. I just eyed him cautiously, half expecting him to lash out at me. "Why do you get nightmares?" He asked, but he didn't sound like he was interrogating me, he sounded curious. 

"I dunno," I gave him a half shrug. "I just... There's was this place and..." I didn't know how to get my words out. 

"It's fine if you don't want to talk about it," he said, but I shook my head. 

"No, no, its just..." I took a deep breath. "When I was younger, I was put into this foster home, but it wasn't a foster home. It was really a cover for the people who ran it. They would... Take the kids and experiment on them..." I played with the edges of the blankets, not looking at him.

"'Experiment'?" He asked shocked. "They experimented on children? Is that why you're afraid of shots?"

"... Yeah," I nodded slightly. "I don't want to be, but whenever I see one I get scared. It's like I can hear their voices in my head. They would always laugh at me, and hurt me. It was scary," I brought my knees to my chest and rested my head on top if them. 

"There's nothing for you to be afraid of," he insisted. "I promise I--" he cut himself off. "What's that?" He pointed to the back of my right hand, where the brand of their group lied. 

My eyes widened and I quickly tried to cover it, "It's nothing," I said quickly, hoping he would forget. 

"Was that a brand?" He asked. Instead of sounding shocked, he sounded angry. I looked at him carefully. His blue eyes were blazing with withheld rage. "They branded you?!" 

"I-I..." I didn't know what to say, I was scared. He was outraged, why? Was he angry at me? Was it something I said? Would he hurt me? 

He ran a hand through his short hair. "They branded you! Like you were some kind of animal! Like some kind of slave!" 

"I-It's fi-fine," I tried to say, watching his movements carefully. 

"It's not fine!" He argued, looking down at me. As soon as he did, his anger washed away. "Oh... I'm scaring you, aren't I?" His blazing blue eyes no longer held anger, they held something else. It was the similar as when we were in 1869. Was this that 'love' thing he talked about?

"I'm sorry," I whimpered. "I just-- I thought you would--" I fiddled with my fingers, and looked away. 

"You thought I was going to hurt you?" He asked, finishing my sentence. I didn't answer. "Augusta, I would never hurt you. I was just... Mad that these people hurt you."

I was confused. "You were mad that someone else hurt me? Why? They didn't hurt you."

"No, but they hurt you," he said. I cocked my head confusedly, he sighed. "Remember when I told you that when someone loves someone else, and they see them getting hurt, they get mad?" I nodded. "That's how I felt. I was mad." 

I nodded slowly, "Love is weird." 

He chuckled, "Yeah it is," he agreed. "Let me see the brand." 

I held my hand to my chest. I didn't want him to get mad again. "I won't get mad," he said, reading my thoughts. 

I gave him a wary look, but reluctantly showed him my hand. "Just... Don't touch me, okay?" 

He gave me a weird look, but nodded, "I won't." I set my hand out for him to see. The brand of the bird-that-looked-like-it-was-on-fire displayed to him clearly. "A phoenix..." He awed, staring at it.

I looked away in discomfort. I remembered the first time they branded me clearly. I was still really little. They told me that if I screamed then I wouldn't get fed for a few days. I still screamed, that thing hurt like hell! True to their word, I wasn't fed. Every few years after that, they would re-brand me, and no matter what, I always screamed. Instead of starving me, they would make me do physical experiments, like walking through a maze, but if I didn't finish in time, I was ruthlessly electrocuted. Sometimes, they would just give me a drug that would give me nightmarish hallucinations. Those were the worst.

"What's wrong?" The Doctor asked, breaking me away from my thoughts. 

"Hm? Nothing. I'm fine," I answered.

"You're crying," he pointed out, wiping a tear from my cheek. 

"Oh. I was just thinking," I said, wiping off my cheeks. There was no need to tell him too much about the brand. I've already told him too much as it is. 

"You can tell me if there's anything wrong," he said, but I shook my head. 

"There's nothing wrong," I insisted. "I was just thinking." 

"About the times when they branded you?" He asked, my eyes went wide. 

"How did you know that they branded me more than once?" I asked, a bit of a suspicious edge to my voice. 

"I could tell, by the markings," he answered, settling my suspicions. "Why a phoenix?"

"What's a pheo-mix?" I asked.

"'Phoenix'," he corrected. "It's a flaming bird." 

"A bird that's on fire? Like when you cook a bird?" Cooked bird was good. I had it once or twice. That was only on good days though.

The Doctor gave me another weird look, "No, a Phoenix is a bird that is fire. It's a human thing."

I ruffled my eyebrows. "A bird that is... Fire?" 

The Doctor picked up on my confusion and sighed exasperatedly. "No, no. The bird is fire. Like how you have skin on your body. The bird's skin is the fire." 

"Why doesn't someone put it out?" I asked. "Or eat it." 

"S'not what I mean," he said. "Look. The bird's skin is the fire. You can't put out the fire; its part of the bird. If you put out the fire, it kills the bird. You can't cook it either, its already burning." 

"So... Why doesn't someone just put out the fire, and then cook the bird? It'll already be crispy, won't it? Or will the bird turn to ashes since its been cooking for a long time?" 

The Doctor took a deep breath, and looked at the ceiling. "Just... Forget I asked..." 

"Okay..." I trailed off. Still slightly confused, but I waved it off. 

"I'm hungry," he announced. 

"You can get something to eat if you want," I told him. "I'll stay here." 

"Why?" 

"Can't move, not after healing so quickly. I'd faint on the spot," I shrugged carelessly. "Can you bring me some food too?" 

"'Course, what do you want?" He asked. 

"Uh..." I didn't know very many foods. "I dunno." 

"How 'bout something sweet? Maybe some ice cream!" The Doctor asked with a silly grin. "Yep. Ice cream it is!" 

"Uh, what's iced cream?" I asked as he raced out of the room.

"You'll see!" He replied, going out into the hallway. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

After a while, the Doctor burst through the doors with a cart, Rose following him with a smile on her face. "How are you feeling?" She asked me. 

"Fine. I'll live," I told her, looking at the cart the Doctor was wheeling beside my bed. It was filled with all these different boxes of different colors. It ranged from brown, to pink, to even green! On top their were different little jars filled with multicolored... Things. Beside it was a few bottles filled with unknown substances. There were also a few bowls and spoons, and beside it brown-squarish pointy circle-y things. It all smelled sharply of sugar, which made me scrunch up my nose in irritation.

The Doctor read my face and grinned, "Ice cream. It's the best medicine!" 

"Really?" I asked, curiously. I didn't think that the best medicine could be so... Colorful. 

"No. But it isn't, but it tastes pretty good, so it doesn't matter," he shrugged. 

He pulled out a table(from god knows where) and laid it out. He began to place the boxes and jars and bowls and pointy brown things on it also. 

"Okay!" He clapped his hands, "What flavor do you want?" 

"'Flavor'?" I asked. I had heard this word before, but I forgot what it meant. 

"What type of ice cream do ya want," Rose clarified. 

"Oh... Uh... What are the types?" I asked. 

"Mint. Mint chocolate chip. Strawberry. Chocolate fudge. Chocolate. Chocolate chip. S'mores. Dirt. Vanilla. Sherbet," he said, rattling off at least twenty more. 

"Uh..." 

"Maybe you should just let her try them," Rose suggested. 

"Good idea," he nodded, pulling out the first one. Which i think he called mint. Or was it Mint chocolate fudge or something. I dunno. It was green though, which didn't look all that promising.

He took a spoon and dipped it in the box, pulling out a green lump, and gave it to me. 

I looked at it warily, but took it anyway. I reluctantly licked the spoon, and the sour taste of... Of... I couldn't explain it! But it didn't taste good! 

I spit out the food, and wiped my tongue on the blankets. "That's DISGUSTING!" I cried. "What was that?!" 

"Mint," he said with a shrug. "Not a fan of, I see." 

I couldn't get the horrid taste out of my mouth. "I need water..." 

"You'll be fine " the Doctor rolled his eyes. "Try another one." He shoved a spoon with a brown lump on it. It also had little darker parts in it.

"What's this?" I asked, holding the spoon. 

"Chocolate fudge," he answered taking a small scoop himself and eating it. "Not that good, if you ask me." 

"Then why would you give it to me?" I asked skeptically. 

He shrugged. "Humans usually like chocolate things. Especially females apparently. I'll never understand you apes." He finished, with a glare from Rose.

"Not apes," she scolded, but he rolled his eyes. 

I smiled, and put the spoon in my mouth. Instantly, my eyes went wide, and I gasped. "What? What's wrong?" The Doctor asked, taking notice to my suprise. 

I turned towards him, my mouth agape. I spotted the rest of the 'chocolate fudge' on the cart. I dove at it, and the Doctor moved out of the way quickly. Swiping the box from the cart, I slid on the ground, and landed against the wall, with the ice cream in my lap. 

The Doctor gave me a strange look, "Augus--"

"MINE!" I said, holding the ice cream to my chest, and scooping into the substance, and stuffing my face. It was delicious. I could eat it for days. 

"So I guess you like chocolate fudge, yeah?" Rose asked amusedly, I nodded with a wide grin. 

"'S good," I answered, with my mouth full of ice cream, that was quickly melting on my tongue.

"Come on, and I'll get you a cone," the Doctor said, grinning in a silly fashion. 

"What do I need a cone for?" I asked. I thought that cone were those yellowish-orange things they put on the street. I didn't think you'd eat that with this. That's weird. Maybe it's just a Time Lord/British thing. 

I don't think that even british people were that weird... 

He flashed one of the brown-pointy circles in my face as I went to go sit back down on the bed. "See, ice cream cone." 

This completely demolished my thoughts of the orange street cones, and I took it from him. It felt rough, and had little squares all around it. I sniffed it curiously, and sneezed. It smelled like bread, so it was probably edible. 

I took a small bite out of the side, it did taste like bread, but only crunchier. Maybe it was stale? I shook my head, no. Stale bread doesn't taste like this. This tastes bland but I don't know. It tasted like the ice cream. It was... 

"... You like it?" The Doctor asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. 

"What?" I asked dumbly. 

"The ice cream cone. Do you like it?" He said, pointing to the nibbled on cone.

"Oh. Um... I dunno. It tastes like something. Like it's... I don't know," I shrugged and scratched my messy brown mane confusedly. 

"Like it's what?" Rose asked, taking interest in our conversation. 

"Like its... It's..." 

"Spit it out," Rose laughed. 

"Like-like its... Pink!" I finally said. "It tastes like it's pink!" 

Rose bursts into laughter, and held her stomach like she was sick. "Are you okay Rose!?" I asked in surprise. What was wrong with her?! Did something happen? What did I do?!?

Rose wiped tears from her eyes, "No, no I'm just--" she looked at my distressed face, and bursts into another fit of laughter. 

"Doctor! What's wrong with her!? Help her!!" I cried, but he crossed his arms on his chest and chuckled.

"No, no, just wait, she'll be fine," he said nonchalantly. 

I looked at him, in horror, and looked back at Rose, who's laughter had receded now. There were still tears in her eyes though. "Are you okay?" I asked, hesitantly.

"I'm-Im fine," she gasped, and smiled at me. "'Pink'? How does an ice cream cone taste pink?"

She's crazy. "You almost DIED and you're asking me how an ice cream cone was pink?!" 

Rose rose an eyebrow. "'Died'? I was nowhere near dyin'. I was laughing." 

"Then why were you holding your stomach?" 

She opened her mouth, but closed it. "Doctor. Can you please explain this to her?" 

"No, no, I think you got this one," he replied, amusement shining in his voice. 

She sighed and looked down at me, "Look. Sometimes when you're laughin' really hard, your stomach starts to hurt--" 

"Why?" I interrupted.

She shrugged, "I dunno. It just does. Sometimes people laugh so hard and they cry too." 

"Oh... So you're okay?" 

She smiled, "'Course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?" My mind trailed back to my dream, where I killed Rose. The look of horror on her face, and her cries in agony. 

I shook it out of my head, and gave her a small smile, and she messed up my hair(although it really couldn't get any messier). 

"Now come on, let's eat some pudding," she grinned. 

"'Pudding'? I thought this was ice cream?" I shook my head. "British people are weird..." The Doctor began to prepare my ice cream.

Rose giggled, not even answering my question. "Whatever you say, Auggie." 

"Who's Auggie?" 

"You. It's a nickname," she said. 

"What's a nickname?" I asked, getting my ice cream from him. It was brown and had little brown flakes at the top. He gave Rose one too, hers was white with multicolored flakes. 

"'S when someone close to you shortens your name." 

"So you'll call me Auggie when your close to me, but when your far away, you'll call me Augusta?" I asked, trying to make sense of her words. "Why would you do that? Why don't you just call me Augusta or Auggie?" 

"No, no. What I mean is, someone who's your friend." I still didn't understand. "Doctor!" She whined to him. 

He laughed. "Someone that loves you, Augusta." My mouth made a small 'o' and I nodded. But then I frowned, thinking about his words, and looked back to Rose. 

"You... You love me?" I asked, hesitantly.

"'Course I love ya," she grinned. "You're brilliant."

"What does brilliant mean?" I asked.

"It means you're great," she smiled at me. 

"Oh..." I looked down at my half-eaten ice cream. "Thank you..." 

"No problem, kiddo." 

"Who's kiddo?" Rose groaned, and the Doctor let out a laugh, but I was still confused. 

"Just eat your bleedin' ice cream," Rose said exasperatedly. I didn't ask why or how my ice cream was bleeding, but I looked at it, just in case. I found no warm red substances on it. 

"It's a british word," the Doctor whispered in my ear. "Your ice cream isn't actually bleeding." Rose hit her head with her hand. 

"What are you doing that for?!" I asked shocked. Now her forehead held a light red mark.

"No. It's just-- I-- Just eat your ice cream!" She huffed. 

"Your face is all red..." I mumbled, licking my non-bloody ice cream. Rose huffed again. I cleared my throat. "Where are we going next?" We need to go to London, that's when the aliens took over. Maybe I could persuade them to go. 

"Can I go home?" Rose asked. Instantly, the Doctor's face fell. "Not forever. Just wanna see my mum." The Doctor exhaled lightly. 

"Yeah, course," the Doctor nodded. 

"Thank you," Rose smiled, and looked down at me. "How 'bout you Auggie? Wanna see your Mum and Dad too?" 

"Uh... What's a Mum?" I asked. I thought she was trying to say mummy at first. 

"Whaddaya mean 'What's a mum'? It's your mum, silly," she laughed, but the look of confusion didn't leave my face. 

"She mean Mom," the Doctor translated. 

"Oh! You mean Mom!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, your mum, silly," she giggled. "What's she like? Did she make you biscuits or even--"

"I don't have a mom," I said, making Rose freeze. 

"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to--" 

"It's fine," I shrugged. "I don't care. Never had a mom. Or a dad. I had Mr. and Mrs. Johnson though, so I don't care." 

"Who's Mr. and Mrs. Johnson?" Rose asked. 

"Foster parents," I said. 

"Are they nice? What are they like?" Rose asked, curiously. 

Before I could answer, the Doctor clapped his hands ear-piercingly loud. "Okay, enough domestics for today!" He announced, and looked at me. "How are you feeling? Well enough to go to London?"

I nodded. I had been healing for a while now, so I should be fine. "Good because you stink. You need a shower."

"What's a shower?" I asked. 

"That's half the problem," he sighed. "Go out the hall, take a left, second right, and another left and there should be a loo in there too. Get in the shower and wash." 

"What's a loo?" I asked, getting out of bed. 

"Bathroom. Now go!" He rushed me down the hall and closed the door behind him. I rolled my eyes, and walked down the hall, following his confusing instructions. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

Doctor's POV

He had finally manage to get Augusta(or as Rose was calling her, Auggie) out of the room and looked back at Rose. 

"Why's she so..." She trailed off, not finding a word out of the vast English language to describe the girl. 

Luckily, he could find several. "Clueless?" He suggested, only choosing one of the many he had in mind. 

"You make it sound like she's slow..." She mumbled, but shook her head. "She didn't know what a mum was!" 

"In her defense, you were using british terminology. She's American, she wouldn't be able to understand." 

"She didn't know what a nickname was, and that's American! She asking didn't know what a shower was, or what I meant when I said kiddo. She thought I was dyin' when I was laughin'!" Rose argued. 

She did make a point. "Was it because she's adopted?" Rose asked. "I've got some mates who're adopted, and they don't act like that!" She ranted. 

"It's because of her living conditions," he interrupted her ravings. "Abusive homes and all." He decided against mentioning how she said she was experimented on. It made him angry thinking about it, much less discussing it. 

"... Oh..." Rose quieted. "An abusive home? That poor girl..." 

"I don't know for sure, it's just a theory. I'll ask her later," he said. "I don't think she realizes that that's wrong. She's too careless about it." 

Rise nodded understandably, and bit her fingernail. Nasty human habit. It must be addicting though, seeing as most of the human race had the same habit. Just like one of those apes to get mesmerized by eating themselves. 

"She doesn't realized that she was abused? Is that why she doesn't like being touched?" Rose asked. That would make sense, but she didn't know about the experiments they did on her, which was probably the real reason why she didn't like being touched. 

"Yeah," he lied. "Try to be gentle with her, okay? She doesn't understand most things. If she looks scared, then give her a hug and tell her you love her. Usually calms her down." 

Rose nodded, "I'm going to get washed up." She told him, leaving the room. 

He watched her leave the room, and he began to clean things up. Augusta was truly a mystery to him. She had told him about her being a test subject against her will, was that related to why she didn't like being touched? She was also deathly afraid of shots, which was a result of the her being a test subject also. 

His mind traced back to when he saw the brand implanted on her right hand. How had he not noticed it the whole time? Maybe because he was not too busy checking her health to notice. Either way, they had still branded her, whoever they even are. 

And a phoenix, why a phoenix? What was so significant about a mythical human creature? That had to be the symbol of their group. More like a cult, he thought bitterly. 

He didn't understand why humans couldn't just leave each 

other alone, and stop trying to put one another down. They were a fantastic race, to be honest, and had to potential for so much, but when on or two humans ruin another human like how Augusta was, makes his time lord blood boil. He couldn't fix everything, he knew that, and with the humans being such a needy species of people, it would be hard to hold their hand through everything. he would need to let them go at some point. 

He sighed and began to roll the cart out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Going back to Augusta, she had another nightmare earlier and was talking in her sleep, he heard her. She kept saying that she killed Rose, which he couldn't believe. Why-- how would she kill Rose? Was it just a dream, or had it been a vision? Would Rose die by Augusta's hands? He frowned, she wouldn't die. Not if he could help it. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

Augusta's POV

After having a refreshing shower, and awkwardly asking Rose to help me work it, I was back in the console room smelling like vanilla and cocoa, as Rose called it. 

To me, it smelled like pink, like how my 'ice cream' tasted. It was weird and made my very sensitive nose sneeze.

"What is a ven-ila and coc-ie anyway?" I asked curiously, since I had obviously never heard of the two things. 

"It's vanilla and cocoa," the Doctor corrected, playing with switches on the console. "They're plants on earth that apparently smell good, but to be honest, there are some whole plants that smell ten times better that vanilla ever would." 

"I didn't like it either," I said with a bit of a frowned. "It hurt my nose. And it smell like pink." 

The Doctor stopped fiddling with the console board and looked at me, "Whaddaya mean it smelled like pink anyway?" He asked.

"You know, pink," I shrugged. "Like how the rice cream tasted like pink." 

"You mean ice cream," he corrected. "And I think you mean it tasted 'sweet'." He went back to his console, and pulled a few levers.

I cocked my head, "What's 'sweet'?" 

"It's when something tastes sugary," he answered. 

"Oh! I've heard of sugar before!" I beamed, "Mrs. Johnson puts it in her coffee."

"Ever tasted it before?" He asked. 

"No," I shook my head, making my curls fly. "Wasn't allowed to. It always smelled weird though, so I didn't want to."

The Doctor nodded as Rose emerged from the hallway, now in a change of clothes. She smelled like vanilla and cocoa too. "Okay, I'm ready," she announced, and looked over at me, with a bit of a frown. "Wait, almost forgot." She fished in her pocket, and pulled out a pair of black gloves, almost like mine. "We had to leave yours back in Cardiff, so I thought you'd like these instead." 

She walked over to me gave me the gloves, and combed her fingers through my hair. I felt her tug on my hair, releasing an eep from my lips and rub my hair. I put my gloves on gratefully, but I frowned at her. "Ow... What'd you do that for?" I asked.

"Your hair is a mess," she announced. "I'll need to fix it before we go." 

"What do you mean, 'fix it'? My hair feels fine!" I argued, holding my head away protectively.

She shook her head, "I won't do anything big right now, but you can put it in a ponytail or something." She pulled out blue circle thing from her pocket. "It won't take long, I promise. 'Sides, always wanted to do African hair!" 

>*< Two Minutes Later >*<

"OOOWW! THAT HURTS!!" 

"STAY STILL!"

"BUT IT HURTS!!"

"THAT'S ONLY 'CAUSE YOUR HAIR IS SO KNOTTY!" 

"Stop yelling!" The Doctor ordered, making us both go silent. We were still in the console room, and Rose was trying to pull my hair out. 

I frowned at the Doctor, "It hurts..." I mumbled, rubbing my abused head. 

"You need to get your hair done," Rose said, pulling again, making me thrash around in the chair. Eventually, she got the stupid rope-y thing around my hair. My head felt tight, like someone was pull on it. I crossed my arms over my chest and frowned. 

"Stop poutin' you look much better now!" Rose scolded lightly. 

"'Pouting'? What's--"

Rose promptly cut me off, "Don't even ask. We're ready Doctor!" 

The Doctor grinned and began to push buttons and pull levers. "Next stop: London!" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta.
> 
> Please do not copy.


	8. C H A P T E R  S I X

Chapter 6: 

Augusta's POV 

 

When the TARDIS finally landed, Rose stepped out of the TARDIS, "How long have I been gone?" She asked the Doctor, who stood behind her, leaning on the TARDIS. I stood a bit standoffish, listening to the conversation.  

 

"About twelve hours," he answered. 

 

"Oooh! Right," Rose giggled, making the Doctor laugh. "I won't be long, I'm just gonna see my mum." 

 

"What're you going to tell her?" He asked.  

 

"I don't know!" Rose giggled again. She seemed very... Happy. "I've been to the year 5 billion... and only been gone, what, 12 hours?" The Doctor and I both snort, as she continues happily. "No, I'll just tell her I've spent the night at Shareens. See you later! Oh-- don't you disappear!" She warns and heads off towards her home.  

 

The Doctor steps out of the TARDIS and begins to walk around. I shoved my hands in my jean jacket, and stepped out along with him, closing the TARDIS door behind me. I saw a orange and red leaf fly past the alleyway, so I knew it was fall.  

 

The Doctor kicked around a empty can. "This is boring," he complained.  

 

"Yeah," I agreed. I would suggest going somewhere, but I didn't want the Doctor to miss out on-- 

 

"Oh no," he said in a hushed tone, and grab my arm, and race out of the alleyway, dragging me along with him-- again. 

 

Once we made it to Rose's house, he swung open the door, "It's not 12 hours, it's er... 12 months. You've been gone a whole year... Sorry." Jackie engulfed Rose in a tight hug, tears streaming down her face, Rose stood their a but awkwardly and stunned.  

 

I sighed inwardly, this really was going to be a long day... 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

After the initial shock, and somewhat of an explanation, Jackie was angry, no furious, which made me a bit nervous. I already knew she was going to be mad, but her angry expression reminded me a bit of them. "The hours I've sat here. Days and weeks and months all on my own," She ranted. "I thought you were dead. And where were you? Travelling. What the hell does that mean? Travelling? That's no sort of answer."  

 

She had also called the police, which I don't see why she did so. I didn't understand why she was angry either. I mean, Rose was here now, alive and well, so what was the problem?  

 

"You ask her," she told the policeman. "She won't tell me! That's all she says. Travelling." 

 

"That's what I was doing," Rose insisted. 

 

"When your passport's still in the drawer?" Jackie scoffed, "It's just one lie after another!" 

 

"I meant to phone, I really did, I just... I forgot..." Rose trailed off. 

 

"What, for a year?" Jackie asked, flabbergasted. "You forgot for a year? And I am left sitting here? I just don't believe you. Why won't you tell me where you've been?" She cried desperately, tears forming in her eyes again.  

 

"Actually, it's my fault," The Doctor spoke up. "I sort of er, employed Rose as my companion."  

 

"When you say 'companion', is this a sexual relationship?" The policeman asked.  

 

I opened my mouth to ask what he meant, but decided that this was the wrong time to do so. 

 

"No!" Rose and the Doctor denied instantly.  

 

Jackie jumped up instantly, and got in the Doctor's face, "Then what is it? Because you, you waltz in here all charms and smiles, and the next thing I know, she vanishes off the face of the earth! How old are you then? 40? 45? What, you find her on the Internet? Did you go online and pretend you're a doctor?!"  

 

"I AM the Doctor!" The Doctor retorted. 

 

"Prove it!" She yelled, "Stitch this, mate!" Her arm swung back, and I instantly knew what she was about to do. 

 

Before I knew it, I was standing in front of the Doctor, right when Jackie was about to hit the Doctor, and caught her arm. "Stop it! You're acting like children!" I screamed, making Jackie stop and stare down at me. 

 

Her face contorted into anger, "And what would you know!?" She cried. "Where are your parents anyway? You should be with them, not with this man! You don't know what your talking about! This man has twisted your mind! You're still a kid, you don't have to stay with him!"  

 

My eyes narrowed and my grip tightened on her arm. "'Just a kid'? You're the one to talk, trying to start a fight!" 

 

"SHE'S MY DAUGHTER! I HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE MAD!" She screamed.  

 

"If your her mother, then your not setting a very good example," I said with a icy cold tone, yet you could hear my anger. "Your daughter is alive and well, I don't see what the problem is. She's not dead is she?"  

 

"SHUT UP!" She roared, pulling her arm away. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!"  

 

"I do know what I'm talking about!" I yelled. "Your daughter isn't dead, be grateful for that!" 

 

She looked at me for a second, then back at the Doctor, "Did-Did you threaten my daughter's life?" She asked, with a bit of horror in her voice. Before the Doctor could answer, her face went angry once more. "You monster!" Before I could react, she had punched the Doctor across his face. My eyes went wide as he hit the wall beside him and fell on the ground dazed.  

 

"MUM!" Rose yelled. 

 

"STAY AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!" She bellowed and stormed out of the room. Rose followed after he mom, while I stayed with the Doctor. I saw the officer slip out of the room, leaving a little card behind, but I didn't care.  

 

"Doctor? Doctor are you okay?!" I asked frantically. I really didn't expect her to punch him. Slap him, yeah, but punch him!  

 

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," he said, rubbing his jaw sorely. "Damn, that was one hell of a punch," he mumbled, sitting up.  

 

Seeing that he was fine, I sighed, relieved, and help him stand up. "I didn't know she was going to punch you, sorry," I apologized.  

 

"'S'not your fault," he replied with a bit of a shrug.  

 

"I don't understand," I said, plopping down on the seat beside me. "Why was she so mad? Rose was right there, and she was angry!"  

 

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck, and sat in the seat adjacent to mines. "She was worried," he answered.  

 

"But Rose was perfectly fine," I argued, "Why was she so worried?" 

 

"Augusta, she hadn't seen Rose for a whole year," he explained, and gave his, now turning a strange purple(which I didn't know that he could turn different colors either. Alien thing, maybe?) jaw, a rub. "She didn't know where she was or who she was with. She was worried that Rose might've been hurt or something."  

 

"Is this one of those 'love-y' situations?" I asked. "They one where someone will hurt someone else if they love them?"  

 

The Doctor nodded with a small smile and messed up my hair, like Rose had done. "You're learning," he smiled.  

 

I gave him a small smile, he returned it with a glare, but it wasn't a mean one. It was like he was trying to be funny. "C'mon, you can smile bigger than that!" He encouraged.  

 

I blinked confused for a second, but gave him a wider smile, showing a bit of my teeth. "There you go!" He cheered and clapped a bit. "Your smile is beautiful."  

 

I dropped my smile and looked at him confusedly, "'Beautiful'?" I echoed.  

 

"It means pretty, unique," he explained.  

 

"What does 'pretty' mean?" I asked again, still really confused.  

 

He chuckled, "It means that you're attractive," I still held a confused look, he sighed. "Remember in Cardiff, when Rose wore that dress?" I nodded. "What did you think of her when she looked like that?"  

 

I frowned, thinking back to when she was dressed like that. "She looked really nice and... And..." I couldn't find a word to describe her appearance.  

 

"Pretty?" The Doctor answered. "You thinking that she looked pretty." 

 

My mouth formed a small 'o'. "You're saying that I looked like when Rose wore a dress?" I asked. 

 

"Yes," the Doctor said, with a bit of a laugh. "I'm saying you look pretty."  

 

"Oh..." I didn't know what to say. I was stunned into silence. "Tha... Thank you...?"  

 

"You're welcome," he chuckled. "C'mon, lets go talk to Rose." 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

We were sitting on the roof, leaning against a big gray box.  

 

"I can't tell her. I can't even begin..." Rose said mournfully, "She's never gonna forgive me. And I missed a year? Was it good?"  

 

"Why won't she forgive you?" I asked. "I thought that she loves you?"  

 

Rose gave me a sad look, "She does love me," she explained.  

 

"Then why can't she forgive you?" I asked.  

 

"Because she's sad," she sighed and looked out to the big city of London. In the distance, you could see a big brown clock thing and a weird circle that held other circles on it. There was also a big river running through the city. 

 

"She'll be happy again, won't she? Then she will forgive you, right?"  

 

Rose didn't answer, so the Doctor spoke up, "Middling." 

 

"What?" Rose said, confused. 

 

"The year. It was middling," he repeated. 

 

Rose snorted and hit the Doctor on the arm playfully. "You're so useless." 

 

The Doctor huffed, "Well, if it's this much trouble, are you gonna stay here now?"  

 

"I dunno," Rose sighed, "I can't do that to her again, though." 

 

"Well, she's not coming with us," the Doctor grumbled, making them both burst out laughing.  

 

"No chance," Rose agreed. 

 

"I don't do families," the Doctor shuddered.  

 

"She totally slugged you!" Rose laughed.  

 

"900 years of time and space, and I've never been punched by someone's mother," the Doctor groaned.  

 

"Your face!" Rose laughed even harder. 

 

"It hurt!" The Doctor cried. 

 

"You're so gay!" Rose was out if breath from laughter, I watched carefully, and silently, seeing if the same result would come when couldn't breathe when she was laughing. 

 

Luckily, it didn't and Rose gradually stopped laughing. "When you say 900 years..." She trailed off. 

 

"That's my age," the Doctor explains.  

 

"You're nine hundred years old," Rose said, sounding like she didn't even believe her own words. 

 

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded.  

 

"My mum was right-- that is one hell of an age gap," She jumped off the box and ran a hand through her hair. "Every conversation with you just goes mental. There's no one else I can talk to. I've seen all that stuff up there, the size of it, and I can't say a word. Aliens and spaceships and things, and I'm the only person on planet earth who knows they exist." 

 

As if on cue, a large plane-thing flew over head us. We watched as the ship hit the big clock, and fell into the river with a big splash. 

 

"Oh that's just not fair!" Rose groans. The Doctor laughed loudly and grabbed our hands, although I yanked my back, and ran straight into the scene. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

The area was blocked off by police officers and other official-looking people. "It's blocked off," I stated monotonously.  

 

"I can see that," the Doctor huffed.  

 

"We're miles from the centre," Rose informed us. "The scene must be grid locked. The whole of London must be closing down."  

 

"I know, I can't BELIEVE I'm here to see this!" The Doctor sounded very excited. He looked ready to bounce out of his shoes. "This is fantastic!" 

 

"Did you know this was going to happen?" Rose asked.  

 

"Nope!" 

 

"Do you recognize the ship?" 

 

"Nope!" 

 

"Do you know why it crashed?" 

 

"Nope!" 

 

"Oh, I'm so glad I've got you," Rose huffed sarcastically, crossing her arms over her chest.  

 

"I bet you are!" The Doctor grinned, "This is what I travel for, Rose! To see history happening right in front of us." 

 

"Well, let's go and see it!" Rose suggested, "Never mind the traffic, we've got the TARDIS!" 

 

"Better not," the Doctor frowned. "They've already got one spaceship in the middle of London, don't want to shove another one on top." 

 

"Yeah, but yours looks like a big blue box," Rose argued. "No one's going to notice." 

 

"The TARDIS is loud," I pointed out, making the Doctor nod.  

 

"You'll be surprised, an emergency like this-- there'll be all kinds of people watching," the Doctor warned. "Trust me, the TARDIS stays where it is." 

 

Rose frowned, dissatisfied, "So, history's happening and we're stuck here." 

 

"Yes we are," the Doctor answered.  

 

"We could always do what everybody else does," Rose suggested, making the Doctor turn to look at her. "We could watch it on the telly." 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Back at Rose's house, I was sitting on the couch playing around with the parts of a pen, a few batteries and some other metal things. I absentmindedly began to build things, while listening to their conversation.  

 

The TV, or as Rose called it, telly, was loud. "Big Ben destroyed as a UFO crash lands in Central London. Police reinforcements are drafted a from across the country to control wide-spread panic, looting and civil disturbance. A state of national emergency has been declared. Tom Hitchinson is at the scene," the TV person said.  

 

The Doctor stared intently at the TV screen, soaking in all the information. "The police urge the public not to panic," it continued. "There's a help line number on screen right now if you're worried about friends or family." 

 

The Doctor changed the channel to someone with an American accent, "The military are on the lookout for more spaceships. Until then, all flights in North American air space have been grounded." 

 

He flipped back to british accent, "The army are sending divers into the wreck of the spaceship. No one knows what they're going to find." 

 

Back to American, "The President will address the nation live from the White House. But the Secretary General has asked that people watch the skies." 

 

Jackie walked into the room, holding a cup filled with some drink, and handed it to Rose. "I've got no choice! Either I make him welcome, or I run the risk of never seeing you again!" She raved and turned to me. "Would you like a cuppa as well sweetheart?"  

 

I blinked, and turned to Rose, "Tea. Do you want tea?" She translated, taking a sip of her drink.  

 

"Uh... Yeah, sure. Why not," I shrugged, not really knowing what 'tea' was. Jackie nodded and went back into the room, which I assumed was the kitchen, and talked with her friend, who was sitting at the table, loudly.  

 

"Oi! I'm trying to listen!" The Doctor complained agitatedly. 

 

"... his current whereabouts. News is just coming in, we can go to Tom at the embankments." The TV person continued. I looked down, finishing my little toy. I pulled the little switch on it, and it rose into the air, flying around. It emitted a small whirring sound, and its blades on top spun around rapidly.  

 

I tapped it, and it moved over. I grinned, gave it a gentle push towards Rose. When she saw it, she grabbed it out of the air and nodded her approval towards me, sending it back.  

 

"... An extraordinary event unfolding here live here in Central London. The body is being transferred to a secure unit mortuary. The whereabouts is yet unknown," the lady continued. 

 

Suddenly, the TV turned to some other channel, completely irrelevant to the news channel. "... stuck your things on, you can cover the whole lot..."  

 

I looked over to see the Doctor wrestling the TV remote from a small kid on his lap. "...look at that. Your very own spaceship ready to eat. And there's something a little extra special--"  

 

The TV flickered back to the original news channel. "... We still don't know whether it's alive or dead. Whitehall is denying everything. But the body has been brought here, Albian Hospital, the roads closed off - it's the closest to the river," the TV announced. 

 

The small child hopped off the Doctor's lap, and pointed to the TV. 

 

"Go on!" The Doctor shooed him, and he waddled away. He had his thumb in his mouth and he looked over at me, catching his attention. He walked over where I was on the floor and plopped himself in my lap.  

 

I jumped, and didn't know what to do. I stared down at the little kid, who stared back at me. I turned to Rose or the Doctor for help, but they were both engrossed in the TV set.  

 

The kid took his finger out of his mouth and began to play with mines, that were currently dancing over the metal device I was creating. My hand stopped at the kid's touch, and I stared at him. He fiddled with my glove, not taking it off, but playing with it.  

 

I stared down at the boy. What was he doing? Why was he so interested in my glove? "Why you wearin' glwoves?" He asked, his voice was soft, yet held a certain curiosity.  

 

"I don't wanna hurt you," I replied honestly.  

 

"You won't hurt me," he said. "Can I see your hands?" 

 

I frowned at the boy, "Okay, but don't touch my skin," I warned, pulling off my left glove.  

 

When it was completely off, the kid stared at my hand, curiously. He saw all the little dots and marks and scratches littering them, I felt uncomfortable, I don't know why I took off my glove, to be honest. I just felt... Compelled to show him, I guess. He was still a little kid, so he didn't know what happened. Nobody really did. 

 

"Your hand," he said, "Is pwetty." He complimented.  

 

"How is my hand pretty?" I asked, very confused.  

 

"It jus' is," he said, and turned around to me. "You're a pwetty lady." He gave me a big smile, which was a bit contagious, and I gave him a soft smile in return.  

 

"Thank you," I answered, putting my glove back on. When his chubby little hands came in contact with my face, I almost jump straight up.  

 

"Smile," he insists, pulling on my cheeks. "Smiling makes you happy, Mummy said so!"  

 

I stared at him for a full minute, astonished, but then a smile involuntarily broke out on my face, and grew and grew, until I was smiling from ear to ear. The little boy beamed, "Yay!" He cheered, and ran off. I watched as he went go sit with the lady Jackie was talking to.  

 

He began to talk to her, saying something along the lines of: "Mummy! Mummy! I made the sad girl happy!"  

 

I turned back around and continued to work on the device I was building, taking apart the aircraft, the smile not leaving my face for a good five minutes. 

 

The boy comes back and sits in my lap and big grin on his face. "Whatcha making?" He asked. 

 

"I dunno," I shrugged. "Do you want it once I'm done?" 

 

The boy nodded eagerly, and I resumed my work. He watched my hand silently as I quickly formed what looked like a small truck. I picked it up off the ground and handed it to him, "There you go."  

 

"What does it do?" He asked, handing it back. I shrugged, and pushed the makeshift wheels against the wood flooring. For a while, it just drove, but suddenly, metal wings bursts out of the trucks side and it begans to levitate off the ground and fly. 

 

The two of us watched amazingly as the toy flew around, over our heads, and landed in my hand. "That's so cwool!!" The boy cried, as I gave it to him. "Thank you!" He smiled, and I smile back.  

 

He set the two toy down softly, and went over to the bookshelf, pulling off a book. "Will you read me a storwy?" He asked.  

 

I looked away embarrassedly, "I.. Can't read..."  

 

The boy thought nothing of it, coming up with a better solution on the spot, "Then I'll rwead to you!" He cheered. I nodded. He pulled off a book that had a picture of a dog on the cover along with three pink animals. He began thread about how the 'dog' was actually a wolf and the 'pink animals' were pigs. I listened silently as he continued his story about the wolf and the pigs and how the wolf would harass the pigs, and destroy their houses and then eat them.  

 

"This story is very violent..." I muttered. I think the Doctor heard me because he barked out a laugh. 

 

"The wolf huffed and puffed and blew at the brick house," the boy continued, reading very slowly.  

 

"Why did the wolf blow down the house?"  I asked. 

 

"Cos he's mean," the little boy answered. 

 

"Maybe he just wanted to live with them," I suggested.  

 

"But he broked their houses!" The boy argued.  

 

"'Cause the pigs wouldn't talk to him," I said.  

 

The Doctor laughed, "Are you really arguing with a four-year old over a children's story?" The Doctor asked incredulously. 

 

I huffed, "No! I'm just trying to prove that maybe the wolf was nice or was just... Misunderstood!"  

 

The Doctor rolled his eyes, and I turned back to the boy, listening to him finish the morbid story. When he finished, he got another story, this one called 'Jack and the Beanstalk.' I barely listened seeing as I was slowly nodding off. I fell asleep quickly to the sound of the small boy's voice.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

He watched as Augusta slowly fell asleep when the little boy read to her, and smiled. She probably hadn't had very many opportunities to nod off like that, since she was usually always on edge. He remembered how the little boy had made her smile earlier, the Iook of childish happiness on her face that was usually absent. She was happy and that made him happy.  

 

He saw the little boy look surprised when she had fallen asleep on him, but then he snuggled up close to her, and laid in her arms, sleeping with her. He chuckled at the adorable sight and turned back to the television set. They were holding the alien captive at a hospital, Albian Hospital they had said, which was exactly where he needed to go.  

 

He rose from his chair and silently slipped out, not noticing that Rose watched him, and soon followed after him as well. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

I woke up from my dreamless sleep to see the little boy resting in my arms. What was he doing? I wondered, why did he fall asleep on me? 

 

"You're awake now, aren't you," I heard a lady say. I turned around to see Jackie sitting on the couch, watching me. "My mate, his mum, decided to leave him here. Told her I'd watch the both of you." 

 

I nodded, rubbing my eyes, "How long have I been asleep?" I asked.  

 

"Couple hours," she shrugged. "Come 'ere, I wanna talk to you." I nodded again, and gently placed the child on the floor, and sat in the seat across from hers.  

 

"I'm sorry, about earlier," she said, "I was so happy to see Rose, you know? I'm sorry if I hurt you too." I nodded again, shifting awkwardly in my chair. "Who is the Doctor, anyway?" 

 

"... He's the Doctor," I said with a bit of a shrug. I couldn't tell her about the alien part. She needed to learn on her own. "I'm sorry, I can't tell you much about him." 

 

She sighed, as if she was disappointed, "I was afraid you'd say that." She got a remote off the desk beside her, and clicked a button. My eyes widened as metal clamps emerged from the seemingly normal chair.  

 

She rose from her chair, just as about ten to fifteen men in black and white suits walked in the room calmly. "What's going on?! What are you doing?!" I asked, very confused about what's going on.  

 

I saw one of them pick up the little boy by his arm, waking him up, and pull a gun out of his pocket. He pointed the weapon at the child's head. "No! No stop!" I screamed. 

 

"Tell us who the Doctor really is!" Jackie ordered as big fat tears formed in the little boy's eyes.  

 

"Please sad girl, tell them!" The boy begged. "I don't wanna die!"  

 

I stared in horror, and looked back at Jackie. "Please, don't do this!" I begged. I couldn't tell them about the Doctor, but I did also didn't want this boy to die either. "Please!"  

 

Jackie looked at me carelessly, "Kill him," she ordered the man.  

 

"NO!!" I screamed, but it was too late, the gun was fired, and a bullet flew out, into the little boy's skull. Blood splattered everywhere. Hot tears cascaded die my cheeks as I watched the little boy go limp, his eyes rolled into his head.  

 

I bit my tongue and glared at Jackie, who seemed to have a smug smirk on her face. "YOU KILLED HIM!" I yelled. 

 

"And you will he next, if you don't tell me about the Doctor," she replied coldly, pointing the gun my way.  

 

I pressed my mouth into a thin line defiantly. Jackie simply shrugged, and a second later a loud gunshot went off. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

"AUGGIE!" Someone called, and I shot straight up. My fingers were tingling and my back was rigid. I was Rose, leaned over me her hands on my shoulders, I pushed them off.  

 

"What is it?" I asked groggily, rubbing my eye. That was a really weird dream, although it wasn't my worst. I shook the thought of the odd dream away, and focused on Rose, who was talking. 

 

"Sorry, what?" I said, not catching whatever she had said.  

 

Rise sighed, "My mum's throwing a party and there's food. Do you wanna come eat with us?" She asked again.  

 

I blinked, "Yeah. Yeah, sure, course," I nodded.  

 

Rose nodded, and helped me out of the bed -- that I just realized I was on. "Is the... little boy still here?" I asked. 

 

"You mean baby Johnny?" She asked. Oh. That was his name. "He and his mum just left, sorry." I nodded understandably, and followed Rose into the main room, which was filled to the brim with people. My eyes fractioned at the amount of people they were able to fit in the seemingly small house, but I didn't comment on it. 

 

"Here's to the Martians!" Jackie's voice cried over everyone's chatter. They cheered loudly, replying "The Martians", and rose their drinks in the air. I pushed my hands over my ears. They were loud, too loud.  

 

When we went to go sit down in a empty chair, the door opened revealing Mickey. When he saw Rose, his mouth parted, and he gaped at her. The room was dead silent, you could hear a pin drop, everyone was staring at Rose and Mickey, knowing well enough that something was about to go down. 

 

"I was gonna come and see you," Rose said, breaking the awkward silence.  

 

Mickey didn't respond. "Someone owes Mickey an apology," a unnamed lady commented.  

 

"I'm sorry," Rose added.  

 

"Not you," the woman muttered. Now everyone turned to look at Jackie, her cheeks reddening. 

 

"It's not my fault," Jackie defended with a huff. "Be fair. What was I supposed to think?" 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Later, we had moved to the kitchen, I was gratefully given a cup of steaming tea, as Jackie called it. I hadn't tried to yet. It smelled weird, so I didn't know if I wanted to... 

 

"You disappear-- who do they turn to? Your boyfriend," Mickey ranted. "Five times, I was taken in for questioning. Five times. No evidence, of course there couldn't be, could there. And then I get her - your mother." He pointed at Jackie, who merely rolled her eyes. 

 

"Whispering around the estate," he continues. "Pointing the fingers-- stuff through my letterbox-- and all 'cos of you." 

 

"I didn't think I'd be gone so long!" Rose defended herself. 

 

"And I waiting for you, Rose!" Mickey cried desperately "Twelve months. Waiting for you and the Doctor to come back." 

 

"Hold on, you knew about the Doctor?" Jackie asked, now apparently hearing this information. "Why didn't you tell me?" 

 

Mickey glared at Rose, "Yeah, yeah. Why not, Rose?" He asked her, "Huh? How could I tell her where you went?" 

 

"Hey!" I spoke up, making them look at me. "Don't be mean to Rose, she can't exactly tell the world what happened!" I crossed my arms over my chest. Mickey looked down at me-- seeing that he was much taller than me-- with a scrutinizing gaze.  

 

"And who're you anyway!?!" He asked, incredulously. "You don't even know what's going on, do you?!"  

 

I glared back at him, "'Course I know what's going on!" I argued, offended. "I know much more than you do in fact!"  

 

Mickey turned to Rose, who sighed. "We found her a few days ago, and kinda took her in, I guess," she answered, quite vaguely to say the least. 

 

"Oh, so now you're just picking up little kids, huh?!" Mickey threw his hands in the air. "What if something happened to her? What would you tell her mum and dad?!"  

 

"I don't have a mum and dad," I said, making heads turned my way again. Mickey gaped like a fish, trying to saw something, but the words seemed to disappear in his throat.  

 

"Oh, I'm so sorry sweetie," Jackie gasped, advancing towards me with her arms out. Before she caught me in her embrace, I had slipped away and stood near Rose. 

 

"Don't touch me," I warned seriously. Jackie looked at me, some kind of emotion flashed on her face before disappearing and replacing itself with a frown. "Anyways, I know who the Doctor is, much more than you do, Mickey."  

 

Mickey narrowed his eyes at me, "I never gave you my name." 

 

Whoops. "Rose told me all about you," I answered smoothly. "Where is the Doctor anyway?"  

 

"He left," Mickey spat, with something of a scowl.  

 

"What do ya mean he left?" Rise asked, a bit confused. "The Doctor wouldn't just leave me." 

 

"Well he did," Mickey said. "The Doctor's gone. Just now, that box thing just faded away. You're stuck here."  

 

"I don't understand," Rose said, her voice was trembling ever-so-slightly, but I easily picked up on it. Was she... Scared?  

 

"He left you," Mickey said slowly as if she couldn't understand English. "Some boyfriend HE turned out to be!" 

 

Rose took off without another word, grabbing her coat as she left. I raced after her and Mickey followed me.  

 

Soon, we were standing in the back alley, where the TARDIS had been parked. Rose was shocked, "He wouldn't just go, he promised me."  

 

I opened my mouth to say something, but Mickey beat me to it. "Oh, he's dumped you, Rose," Mickey said, with a dry laugh. "Sailed off into space. How does it feel, huh? Now you are left behind with the rest of us Earthlings. Get used to it." I hit Mickey on the arm. Hard. "OW! What was that for, midget!?"  

 

I glared intensely at him. "First of all, call me a midget again, and I'll rip out your tongue. Second, really? That's how you cheer up your girlfriend? 'The Doctor abandoned you, ha-ha'!" 

 

Mickey scoffed but said nothing. A minute later Jackie walked out with the three of us. "What're you three chimps going on about? What's going on? What's this Doctor done now?" She inquired. 

 

"He's vamoosed!" Mickey exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. 

 

Rose whipped her head around, a angry expression painted on her face. "He's not! 'Cos he gave me this!" She pulled out the TARDIS key. So the Doctor had given her the key, I nodded to myself. Good, nothing is going off script so far.  

 

Mickey simply shrugged, underwhelmed by what she had shown him. "He's not my boyfriend, Mickey," Rose corrected, "He's better than that. He's much more important than--" 

 

She was cut off by the intense sounds on the TARDIS entering the alleyway. I gave her a small grin, and she gave Mickey the 'I told you so' face. She rushes over to usher her mother back into the apartment complex, but she refused to move, gawking at the rapidly showing outline of the TARDIS. 

 

Mickey is just as flustered, "Uh..." He said dumbly.  

 

Jackie, on the other hand, is a bit red-faced(now that I think about it, they all get all red-faced and turns colors. I wonder why.) "How'd you do that, then?" 

 

Rose and I walked in the TARDIS to find the Doctor staring at a screen, trying to make sense of the words. "Alright, so I lied!" He exclaimed. "I went and had a look, but the whole crash landing's a fake-- I thought so, it's just too perfect. I mean, 'hitting Big Ben' come on, so I thought let's go and have a look--" 

 

"My mum's here," Rose interrupted, making the Doctor look up. 

 

As soon as she said that, the doors creaked open showing Rose's mom and Mickey. The Doctor huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Oh, that's JUST what I need. Don't you dare make this place domestic!" He said, with a slight pout on his face.  

 

"You ruined my life, Doctor," Mickey said. The Doctor rolled his eyes and strides over to him. "They thought she was dead. I was a murder suspect because of you!"  

 

I frowned, Mickey was getting annoying at this point. "See what I mean? Domestic," the Doctor moved his gaze to me. "Hey Auggie, how are you feeling?"  

 

"Fine. I'm just a bit tired, I guess," I shrugged.  

 

"You're not even listening to me!" Mickey exclaimed. "I bet you don't even remember my name!"  

 

"Rickey," the Doctor answered. 

 

"It's Mickey!" 

 

"No, it's Rickey." 

 

"It's Mickey! I think I know my own name!" 

 

"You THINK you know your own name? How stupid are you?" The Doctor scoffed. 

 

I hadn't noticed the bewildered look on Jackie's face, and she ran out of the room. "MUM!" Rose called, and turned to the three of us. "Don't start a fight!" She looked at me, "Make sure they don't start a fight."  

 

"Got it," I said, and she ran after her mother, leaving the three of us.  

 

Mickey looked at me, "What's the story behind you anyway? Are you some kind of alien too?"  

 

"No," I said. "I don't think so." I added. 

 

"What do you mean 'I don't think so?' You're either human or you aren't," Mickey said bluntly.  

 

"I'm kind of human. Ish," I shrugged. "Like I said, don't know."  

 

"So what are you then? Some kind of human-alien hybrid? Half human, half Martian?" 

 

I gave him a strange look, "What's a martian?" I asked the Doctor.  

 

"Human thing. It like a alien from Mars," the Doctor explained.  

 

"What's Mars?" I asked. 

 

"It's a planet, but it's red," the Doctor explained. "It's actually, interesting. We should go some time. Home to the Ice Warriors."  

 

"How do you not know what Mars is? You must be dumber than I thought!" He scoffed.  

 

"Shut it Rickey!" The Doctor warned.  

 

Mickey ignored him, "Stop lying. You probably are some kind of alien in disguise, no wonder you didn't know what a Martian was! I don't want anymore aliens near my girlfriend, you hear!?"  

 

He glared at me and I took a step back warily. He was scaring me. I saw anger and fury in his eyes. Similar like Mr. Johnson's. Almost similar to theirs, just not as... Sinister. 

 

"I'm not a alien..." I whispered. I felt my hands get tingly, and my powers flare underneath my gloves. I glanced down at them, as did Mickey.  

 

"If you're not a alien, then why are you hiding your hands with those gloves, hm? Your hands are probably some alien ones!" Mickey accused. I pushed my clenched fist to my chest, and looked down at the floor.  

 

"I don't have alien hands..." I whispered. "I'm normal... I-I'm normal..."  

 

I saw Mickey advance towards me, which I replied with a step back. "Then take off those gloves of yours! Show me your 'normal hands'!" He said, making air quotes.  

 

I bit the bottom of my lip harshly, and looked down at my hands again. I couldn't show him it. I could hurt him if I did...I didn't want to hurt him, then the Doctor would be mad at me.  

 

I shook my head, but took another step back. "I-I can't," I protested.  

 

Mickey scoffed. I saw a bead of sweat roll off his face, "Sure you can! You just don't want to because you're. An. Alien. An it. You don't belong here anymore than anymore than this Doctor here does!" 

 

Suddenly, the Doctor stepped in-between his harsh words and myself. "Shut up Rickey," he ordered, looking at me. "It's okay Auggie, this bloke doesn't know what he's talking about."  

 

"'Bloke'!?" Mickey repeated. "I'm just trying to make sure my girlfriend doesn't get hurt, or killed, by all the aliens you pick up!"  

 

"How would you know who I 'pick up'? You don't even know your own name!" 

 

"I don't need to know that an alien wants alien friends!" He shot back. 

 

"She's not an alien!" The Doctor defended. "You're just too much of a thick-skulled ape to know!"  

 

"Then make her take off her gloves! Show me that she's no threat!"  

 

"I don't have to show you anything, and neither does she!"  

 

"So you're going to defend your alien friend? Right, of course, makes sense," Mickey said.  

 

"She's just as human as you are, Rickey!" The Doctor shouted, "And... Why is it so hot in here?"  

 

Eyes turned back to me. I was trembling uncontrollably, my  heart felt like it was beating out of my chest, I couldn't breathe. The edges of my vision were flashing red on and off-ly. I didn't know what was going on, I was scared, no, terrified, but my mind wasn't set on that though. My mind was flooding with questions. Was I human? What if I wasn't? Would the Doctor not like me anymore? Would he get rid of me? Would he take me back to them? I didn't want to go back to them! I didn't want to be hurt again!  

 

Horrid flashbacks raced my mind, and I was forced to relive them. 

>*<*>*<*>*< 

My arms were chained to the stone walls, providing me little room to move around. I could hear the taunting constant dripping from whatever water source was near me, yet I had no means of getting to it. The thought of water burned my throat, I hadn't drank anything in a long time. My throat felt like it was on fire, but had nothing to quench my desire. Simultaneously, my stomach growled painfully, reminding me that food needed to fill it. I ignored it though, I hadn't remembered the last time I had seen food, so I probably wasn't going to be fed.  

 

The rusty metal door creaked on its hinges, revealing the people in white coats. Always the people in white coats. I knew it was time for another test. They undid the chains on the wall, and dragged me out of the dark, damp, filthy room, seeing that I didn't have the energy to stand up and walk. I didn't remember very well how to walk. My body probably wouldn't support my weak legs anyway, so there was no reason to know how to.  

 

Soon we got to the room filled with the sharp scent of chemicals and other fluids, I was tossed ungracefully into the metal table, the cold silver pricking my body harshly. My arms and legs wet strapped down by the metal clamps, successfully keeping me in place, and then they began. 

 

The prodded at my skin, shooting unknown chemicals into my veins. I withered painfully on the table, groaning and crying out in pain. I felt like my body was burning from the inside out. I gritted my teeth and bit back a cry in pain, my chest heaved up and down quickly.  

 

Then came the laughter. Their overpowering, ear-piecing, taunting laughter that rang through my ears. Stop. Stop it, I thought, too weak to say anything. Please. Just stop.  

 

They didn't stop, they carried on with picking at my body, as I lied, wide awake, simply cringing and crying in pain. A tear involuntarily fell from my eye, and suddenly, their laughter began higher, and even more taunting. The pain felt more intense. I wanted it to all stop. I needed it to all stop, I don't care what I needed to do to do so. I wanted it to end. I wanted it to all end.  

 

I wanted to die. 

>*<*>*<*>*< 

I fell to my knees, as the memory of them vividly invaded my mind. I clawed at my throat, trying to get my airway to work, but nothing was working.  

 

"Augusta! Augusta, calm down, you're having a panic attack!" The Doctor warned, his voice filled with worry.  

 

My breathing came out in short, uneven gasps as the Doctor rushed to my side. What was going on? I don't understand! I-I don't-- I can't... Help me...  

 

"Augusta look at me, okay, look," he said, and reached at me to touch me, something of a strangled scream erupted in my airways, and I crawled away. The Doctor looked worried, his eyes full of fear, but I didn't dare get close to him.  

 

Then his eyes held anger, and he glared at Mickey, shouting something at him that I couldn't hear. Blood pounded through my ears, I could only hear the rapidly thrumming of my heart, that was attempting to jump out of my chest.  

 

I began to see double doctors, that divided into quadruple, and blurred until it was unrecognizable. The darkness creeping at the corners of my vision launched itself at me, and made everything turn black.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

When he turned around at Augusta, his eyes widened, she looked like she couldn't breath, her body was shaking like a leaf in the wind, her eyes unfocused, staring into space. She must be having a flashback, he thought. She was showing symptoms of a panic attack, by the looks of it, a very intense one. The temperature of the room had rose significantly, making the two men sweat, and cause him to take off his leather jacket, seeing he was burning up in it.  

 

He raced over to Augusta, "Augusta, are you alright?!" He asked, snapping her away from her thoughts. As soon as she did, she fell to her knees, clawing at her throat like she couldn't breathe, she was gasping for whatever air she could grab.  

 

"Augusta! Augusta, calm down, you're having a panic attack!" He instructed, but she only looked at him, not responding otherwise. "Augusta look at me, okay, look," he said, reaching out his bare hand to her. That was the wrong decision, because as soon as he came within proximity of her shaking body, he felt like his hand was going to burn, like the skin was melting like wax, and because she made some sort of scream, and scooted away as far as she could from him. She was absolutely terrified.  

 

The concern for the girl melted away, forming into rage, and he glared heatedly at the dark skinned male human, who was merely watching this scene. "This is all your fault!" He growled. 

 

"My fault?! How is this my fault?!!" Rickey shot back.  

 

"You set her off!" He yelled, "She's nearly dying of fright all because of you!"  

 

"Then why don't you help her! You have some kind of alien technology, don't you!?" 

 

"I can't use any 'alien technology' if I can't even touch her!" 

 

"What do you mean you can't touch her? Just pick her up and rush her to the hospital!" Mickey's face dawned with realization, "Unless, she has some kind of alien acid spores sprouting, and your skin'll burn off if you touch her!" He cried, triumphant at nothing.  

 

"What?!?! NO! Where are you even getting this madness from!?"  

 

"... American Sci-fi?"  

 

He groaned, he was an idiot! A complete and utter idiot! He looked back at Augusta, who had fallen limply on the floor. Maybe if she was sleeping then her irregular body temperature would go down, and he could touch her again.  

 

"Why is it so hot in here, anyway?" Rickey asked, as the Doctor went over, and placed a hand over Augusta. She seemed to be 'cooling off', he could tell(she wasn't as scorching hot as before), but he couldn't risk picking her up, he would surely still burn his arms. 

 

The TARDIS doors bursts open revealing Rose, who's smile disappeared when she realized how hot it was. "What's going on here? Why is it so ho--" her eyes caught Augusta's limp body. "AUGGIE!!"  

 

She ran over, to go touch the still sizzling child, but the Doctor held her back. "You can't touch her!" He warned.  

 

"She's hurt!" 

 

"You can thank your boyfriend," the Doctor noted, and Rose stopped moving, turning around to look at him. Her eyes were angry, and certainly did not look like she wanted to be played with. 

 

"What did you do to her?" She asked. 

 

"I-I didn't mean to! I didn't know she was going to freak out!" Rickey defended himself desperately. "All I wanted to know if she was a Martian or not! I didn't mean for this to happen!"  

 

Rose glared daggers at her boy friend, but turned back to him. "What can we do?" She asked. 

 

"I can teleport her to the Medical Bay, since we can't touch her," he said. "I would treat her now, but we have bigger problems to worry about. I'll just have to give her something to keep her sleeping until we get back." 

 

Rose nodded, "Do that, then we can help her later."  

 

And he did just that. He used the TARDIS to teleport her body to the Medical Bay. Her body disappeared instantly, reappearing on the radar in the Medical Bay. By the scan he took, she hadn't woken up yet, and probably wouldn't do so for a few hours.  

 

"I'll need to leave her in there until we get back," he announced to Rose. "Once we clear this fake alien matter up, we'll help her." Rose nodded, and he turned back to his console, and explained what he had discovered at the hospital that had containing the dead, terrified pig. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta.
> 
> Please do not copy.


	9. C H A P T E R  S E V E N

Chapter 7: 

I ran.  

 

I ran through the endless maze for what seemed like hours. My small body running as fast as I possibly could. I couldn't go very fast, with the chains around my ankles and wrists. There was also a metal collar clamped on my neck as well, but I tried not to think about it. I needed to reach the end before-- 

 

My thoughts were cut short by the sound of someone's footsteps, heading my direction. My ears pricked up, they were close. Too close. I ran faster, stumbling over my chains.  They didn't stop chasing me either, in fact, they were getting closer.  

 

I turned the corner, hoping to throw them off, only to bump into a metal wall. I felt on my butt painfully, but looked at the wall horrifically. "No..." I gasped, just as someone closed me in.  

 

I turned around to see one of the white-coated men to block my only exit. His face twisted in a sneer, and a hand reached in his pocket, pulling into a metal button.  

 

The breath hitched in my throat, my eyes darting back and forth from the buzzer to the man rapidly. "No, no please!" I begged.  

 

"I found you, you know what happens next," he chuckled darkly, a hand hovering over the red buzzer. "You lose." 

 

His hand slammed down, sending hundreds of volts of electricity through my body, making my drop to the floor, withering in pain. I screamed, tears escaping my eyes, and I covered my head on the ground.  

 

"Stop...!" I managed to beg through the torture I was experiencing. "S-stop! Please! St-stop!!"  

 

He didn't say anything, he only laughed. His sick, twisted laughter streamed through my head, combining itself with my constant, endless screaming. Make it stop. Please. Stop it!  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

I shot up, gasping, my hands trembling and my heart beating rapidly. The room was dimly lit, but even with that, I could see that I was in the Medical Bay again. I looked down to see the white covers that usually covered me, were replaced by steaming black ashes, that was staining the white bed.  

 

I burned another blanket, I thought, and tried to get up, only to receive a wave of nausea. I fell back down, breathing heavily, what happened? I wondered, trying to catch my breath. I remembered being in the TARDIS. Mickey and the Doctor were there... Mickey was yelling at me and-- Oh right! Mickey thought I was a alien. I got scared, and then I couldn't breathe.  

 

I don't know why I couldn't breath, and it scares me. Was I dying or something? Did Mickey do something to me?  

 

When the door creaked opened, I stiffened and put my thoughts on halt. I looked over to see the Doctor standing at the door with Rose, both of them looking at me curiously, and relaxed. I didn't need my heightened senses to tell that they smelt like burnt wood and something sharp and stinky.  

 

I covered my nose, trying to stop the scent. "Hey kiddo, how ya doing?" Rose asked nicely, taking a step towards me, but I held my hand out to her. 

 

"Don't!" I cried, making her stop in her steps, "Sorry. It's just that, you kinda stink..." Rose's face went a light red(again with the colors!) and she frowned at me, her happy demeanor vanishing.  

 

"What's that suppos' to mean?!" She huffed. 

 

"You smell weird, it hurts my nose," I told her, mumbling the last part, and rubbed my nose.  

 

The Doctor chuckled, and came over anyway, "How are you feeling? You gave us quite as scare earlier. How'd you sleep?" 

 

"I'm feel fine," I told him, dodging the last question.  

 

He noticed this, and looked at me. "How'd you sleep, Auggie?" He asked again.  

 

"... Fine..." I lied.  

 

"Did you have a nightmare again?" He asked. I looked up at him, and nodded, my eyes brimming with tears.  

 

"Can-Can I have a hug?" I asked, sniffing a little.  

 

Without question, his large arms engulfed me in a tight hug. I bit my lip to hold back the tears that were trying to escape through my eyes. "It's okay if you have nightmares," he whispered to me, stroking my hair gently. "You don't have to lie if you have them." 

 

"I-I didn't want to bother you with it... I was scared," I told him.  

 

"It's okay to be scared," he messed up my hair, and smiled at me. "Everyone gets scared. Scared is good, okay?" I nodded, and smiled at him.  

 

"Thank you." 

 

He smiled back, "You're welcome," He grinned. He slapped my knee, and I jumped up, "Since you're up and running, let's go do something!" 

 

"Like what?" I asked, rubbing my knee. 

 

"Do you wanna go watch a movie?" He asked.  

 

"Movie? I've heard of those!" I said. The Johnson's go to the movies all the time. I don't know what it actually is, but sometimes I imagine that it's a food-place, or something. "I don't know what it actually is, but Mr. and Mrs. Johnson talk about them all the time."  

 

"You've never actually seen a movie before?" Rose asked.  

 

I looked at her, "Seen a movie? I thought that it was somewhere where you ate. What do you mean by seen a movie?" 

 

Rose laughed, "No, a movie is something you watch, like how you watch the telly," she explained.  

 

Oh. "So its a TV show?" I asked, and she nodded.  

 

"Yep, but it's really long," she explained, and turned to the Doctor. "What are you thinking about watching?" 

 

"Disney maybe?" 

 

"What's Disney?" I asked.  

 

"Definitely Disney," he nodded, and helped me out of the bed, and we walked out of the room. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

I sat on the couch silently as the Doctor and Rose rushed around the room, that the Doctor called a Theater. Rose was making something called popcorn while the Doctor was going through a bunch of 'movies'.  

 

"Do you want some candy too?" Rose asked, and I turned to her.  

 

"'Candy'? What's that?" I asked her.  

 

She turned around, "So, that's a definite yes," she mumbled. "I'm turning on the machine now Doctor, I'll be done in a few minutes," Rose told the man, and he nodded.  

 

"Toy Story or Lion King...?" He muttered, holding two skim rectangular boxes in his hands.  

 

"Do Toy Story," Rose said from across the room. "It's funnier."  

 

"Okay," he answered, setting the other case down and fiddling with the metal machine.  

 

As he did that, a loud popping sound filled the air. I 'eep'd in surprise, and looked around for the source. It was coming from the machine that were spewing out white balls. The Doctor noticed this, "It's fine," he cooed. "It's just the popcorn." 

 

"Why is it so loud?" I asked, covering my ears.  

 

"It makes that noise when it pops," he explained. "Nothing to be afraid of." He nudged my shoulder and grinned, making a smile break out on my face.  

 

Soon, the loud popping stopped and Rose collected the white stuff, set it into a big bowl and handed it to me along with a red twisty thing, a brown rectangle, and a cup -- which I'm going to assume was the drink. "There you go," she smiled. "Along with a twizzler, a chocolate bar, and some tea."  

 

"Tea?" I questioned, taking the cup. It didn't have foggy steam coming off. I thought tea was hot, like what we had at Rose's mom's house. I never actually got to drink that tea... 

 

"Yep, iced tea," she grinned. "Same thing as regular tea, but its cold." 

 

My mouth made and 'o' and I sipped the cold drink, my hands trailing along the cup. It tasted really, really sugary and... Sweet. It was weird.  

 

The movie started and Rose sat down beside me, sandwiching me in-between the Doctor and Rose. It showed a little boy playing with small things in his hand. He was (oddly) talking to them. When he left the room, the things came alive and began talking amongst themselves. 

 

I watched as the boy got something called a 'toy' named 'Buzz Lightyear'. He didn't like the one with the brown hat called 'Woody'. 

 

As the story continued (And the bowl of popcorn gradually diminished) the two men-things had a fight, and fell out of the window because of it, landing in the car.  

 

They got in this big argument, and was taken by this boy with a skull on his shirt, looking very intimidating.  

 

I watched in horror as the boy took the two home, and experimented on them, taking apart their body parts and leaving them dismembered and broken. Some of them were missing an eye, or had a irregular arm.  

 

"You okay there, Auggie?" The Doctor asked, snapping my gaze away from the screen.  

 

"... Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine..." I nodded, sinking farther into my seat.  

 

He saw my discomfort and stopped the movie, leaving the characters on the screen frozen. "No you're not. We don't have to watch the rest of the movie, if you want," He suggested, but I shook my head, 'no'.  

 

"I'm fine," I told him, sitting up straight and hiding my shaking hands under my legs. "See? Fine."  

 

He gave me a wary look, and unfroze the movie. The movie continued quickly, with the characters escaping the scary-boy's house, and going to the house next door, which was the home to the original boy's house.  

 

Eventually, they, along with the disfigured people, defeated the boy, scaring him off, and the disfigured ones were free.  

 

Then the duo ran off, trying to get to the moving truck, because the boy was moving and they wanted to go back home. So they flew into the roof of the car, falling in the boy's bag, discreetly, and were safe back home. 

 

The movie ended with a black screen and a song. Rose stretched her arms and stood up, "Whadduya think, Auggie?"  

 

A confused look was plastered on my face, "I'm confused." I stated, and the Doctor laughed.  

 

"What are you confused about?" Rose asked.  

 

"First of all, what's a 'toy'?" I asked.  

 

"It's a plaything," the Doctor explained. "To make you happy."  

 

"Okay... And 'toys', they always talk like that?"  

 

Rose laughed, "No! Toys don't talk."  

 

"Then, why were they talking?" I asked.  

 

"That's the point," the Doctor explained. "Toys aren't supposed to talk or move willingly. Their made, like your clothes. Do your clothes talk?" 

 

"No," I answered in a duh tone. "That would be weird."  

 

Rose burst out laughing, her face turning a bright pink, and tears forming in her eyes. Why was she crying? The Doctor rolled his eyes, "The point is, is that the toys aren't supposed to move or talk. The movie is about toys that do, do that. Just to be funny."  

 

"Oh... So, it's normal to talk to your toys too?" I asked.  

 

"For little kids, yeah," he answered with a shrug. "Someone your age wouldn't play with toys. They'd usually have them around as a keepsake, though." 

 

"O... Okay..." I nodded slowly. "And it's normal to... take apart your toys too?" I remembered the scene with the scary kid, taking apart his toys and laughing hysterically at it. That sent shivers down my spine. 

 

He frowned, "No... No, that's not normal. Toys do break, yes, but to willingly take them apart and laugh about it, no. That's bad."  

 

"Oh. Okay..." I said slowly, pulling my feet to the big chair. "That movie was weird..."  

 

"It's American," the Doctor said. There was an awkward silence between us. Finally Rose stood up. 

 

"It's been a long day, I'm gonna go lie down for a while," she announced, walking out the room. "Don't fight any monsters or discover any planets without me," she winked, and exited the room.  

 

The Doctor turned to me, "You still don't know how to read, do you?" He asked.  

 

"Yeah, why?"  

 

He stood up, "Now would be a good time to learn, don't ya think?" He asked, I shrugged.  

 

"I guess," I answered.  

 

He frowned, "C'mon! It'll be fun!" He cheered, pulling me up, and out of the chair, dragging me down the hall. I quickly pulled my arm back, but followed him. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

I sat at a desk in a unknown room, with the Doctor standing in front of me, wearing glasses -- that he got out of nowhere -- and a grin on his face. "Okay, tell me what you know," he said. "How about the alphabet?"  

 

"What's an alphabet?" I asked, and he sighed. 

 

"Okay, we're going to start from scratch," He noted, and pulled out a sheet of paper, writing weird things on it. Once he finished, he showed me. "This is called the alphabet, it's made up of 26 letters. Each of these letters makes a sound and when you combine all these sounds, they make words."  

 

He showed me each letter, what sound they make, and what they were called. "Let's start with a easy one. Try to spell... Bed."  

 

I nodded, remembering that the word had letters that looked the same. "B-E-D."  

 

"Good job," he praised. "You wanna try to write it too?"  

 

I nodded, and he gave me the pencil. I fumbled with it in my hands for a few minutes, before finally wrapping my whole hand around the wooden stick. I wrote the letters carefully on the paper, and showed him.  

 

"Not quite," he frowned, "You got the 'd' and the 'b' mixed up and the 'e' is upside-down." He corrected the word under my paper. "See? 'B' is the second letter, and 'D' is the fourth."  

 

I stared at it, and then glanced at the sheet with all the strange markings on it, alphabet he called it. "No. The 'B' is the fourth and the 'D' is the second."  

 

He gave me a strange look. "No it isn't."  

 

"Yeah it is," I argued. "See, it's right here." I pointed to the two letters and showed him. "'D' is right here, and 'B' is right here."  

 

He looked down at the paper, then looked back at me. "Auggie, take a look at the paper again." He said, and showed it to me. I frowned, but looked down anyway. The 'D' and the 'B' had switched around!!  

 

"Wh-- wait! It was right there! How did it move?!" I cried, surprised. I looked up at him, who had a serious look on his face. "I swear it was right there!"  

 

"Auggie, do me a favor. Remember where 'M' and 'W' is?" I nodded, they looked the same also. "Point to them." 

 

After a few seconds of searching, I pointed to it on the sheet. The 'M' was near the end and the 'W' was in the middle-ish.  

 

He frowned, "Okay... This is going to be a bit harder than I thought..."  

 

"Why? What did I do?" I asked. "Did I do something wrong? Sorry. I didn't know..."  

 

"No, no you're fine," the Doctor said, and I exhaled. "It's just... You may have something called dyslexia."  

 

"Dys-what?"  

 

"Dyslexia. It's a learning disorder," he explained. "It's not bad or anything. It's basically your mind switching up letters. It can be very confusing though, and its hard to learn with it, but not impossible."  

 

"So... Me having dyslexia is a bad thing? 'Cause I can't learn?" I asked.  

 

He shook his head frantically, "No, no, no, no! It's not a bad thing, and you can still learn! It's just going to be harder for you to learn with it, that's all."  

 

"Okay..." I nodded.  

 

"Let's try again," he suggested, and began to help me with some other words.  

 

An hour later, we had finished learning about the whole alphabet and even learned a few words. The Doctor said I could even write a sentence if I wanted to!  

 

"Okay, lets make a deal," he said, cleaning up what we had used. We were going to take a lunch break. "On our next adventure, I challenge you to use the words we learned today."  

 

"So if we're being chased by aliens, I have to call them 'nice' and run away?" I asked, a smile spreading on my face.  

 

The Doctor chuckled, "No," he laughed. "Whenever you get the chance, you can though."  

 

"Okay," I grinned.  

 

"Let's make it a little more interesting," he said and reached into his jacket, pulling out a drawstring black bag. "This bag contains stones from the planet Galiancia. How about whenever you use a word, you get a stone?" 

 

I thought about this. "Do I get something out of it?" I asked. 

 

He rose an eyebrow, "Okay... How about if you can earn all the rocks in this bag, you can go to any planet of your choice."  

 

I grinned, "Deal!"  

 

"Fantastic!" He agreed and led the way out the door. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

In the kitchen, the Doctor was preparing grilled cheese sandwiches, of course, I didn't know what that was, and I could only imagine what it tasted like.  

 

"Do you wanna help?" The Doctor asked. "You don't have to take off the gloves."  

 

"Really?!" I said in surprise.  

 

"Yeah, you seem too attached to the gloves anyway," he shrugged. "How about, I make Rose's and my sandwich, and you make yours?"  

 

I grinned, "Yay!" I cheered.  

 

I hurried over to him, and stood by his side, a big smile on my face. I loved cooking, to be honest, but sometimes, it didn't turn out right... 

 

"Okay, first off, you're going to butter the pan," he said, handing me a stick of butter. "You can just rub the stick on the pan, I don't care." 

 

I nodded and opened up the stick of butter, rubbing it on the metal pan slowly and cautiously. The Doctor smiled, "Nice job. Be careful though, the pan is really hot."  

 

I nodded, "Got it." I answered, and continued to rub the butter all over the pan. What do I do once I'm done? Do I just keep rubbing it? Maybe I take it off once its done. "Doctor, what do I do once I'm done?" 

 

"Take it off the pan," he answered, back turned.  

 

I nodded and put the butter on the side. "Now what?" I asked.  

 

"Put the bread on," he answered, sitting at the table. He was eating his sandwich. "Then put the cheese and meat on."  

 

I nodded following his instructions, placing the yellow sliced cheese and white, damp meat on the steaming bread. "Okay, what now?" 

 

"Wait." Was his answer as he stuffed his face with the sandwich.  

 

And so I waited, occupying myself with tapping my fingers on the smooth counter, and even wiping my finger on the steaming hot stove where I covered it in butter, and licking it. I scrunched up my face though, and wiped at my tongue, the butter tasted disgusting! 

 

"Don't lick the pan!" He scolded.  

 

"Sorry," I apologized.  

 

He sighed, got up, finished with his sandwich. He took my sandwich, putting the bread together and pressing on the top. The back of the bread turned from a light brown to a scorched black. "You burnt it," he announced, putting the sandwich on the plate.  

 

"Yours was black too," I frowned, taking it from him.  

 

"Not as black as yours," he argued. He tore a part off the bread and ate it. "It's not that bad, but its still burned."  

 

I took the plate to the counter and began eating it. The cheese melted quickly on my tongue, and I puffed out a cloud of smoke from my mouth. The sandwich must be hot.  

 

"You're going to burn your tongue," the Doctor said, placing a blue pot on the stove. 

 

"I can't get burned," I told him.  

 

"What do you mean by that?" He asked.  

 

"I can't get hot," I explained. "Or cold." I added.  

 

"Why not?"  

 

"I dunno. I just can't." 

 

"That's interesting." He sat beside me. "So you've never been able to get hold or cold?" 

 

"No. It started when I was maybe... Eight, I think."  

 

He nodded, and then we were silent. "... When's your birthday?" He asked suddenly.  

 

"'Birthday'?" 

 

"Yeah, birthday. When were you born?" He elaborated.  

 

"Oh. I dunno," I shrugged.  

 

"Do you wanna make a birthday?" He suggested.  

 

"'Make a birthday'? What do you mean by that?"  

 

"You know, designate a birthday. It'll be fun!" He grinned. 

 

"Okay, I guess..." A loud whistling filled the air, and the Doctor shot up, walking over to the pot, and turning it off.  

 

"Do you want tea?" He asked.  

 

"It's the hot one right?" I asked, and he nodded. "Yeah, sure."  

 

He took out two cups, pouring the hot water into it, along with a bag with string on the end. After he finished, he handed me one. Steam rose off the top of it, and smelled sharp, like how the... What was it called again? Van-hill... Vanill... No, wait, vanilla! It smells like vanilla.  

 

Proud that I had recognized the familiar scent, I took the tea, and downed it, but quickly spat it back up in the cup. Gagging, I wiped my tongue on my arm, and pushed the cup away. "What's wrong?" The Doctor asked, worried about my reaction to the drink.  

 

"This... Tastes gross!" I said, between coughs. I rushed over to the sink, putting the water in my hands, freezing it, and rubbing the newly created ice on my tongue. "Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew!"  

 

I saw the Doctor roll his eyes, "It couldn't have been that bad." 

 

"How do you drink that mess?!" I cried. The ice wasn't working. I melted it, and just drank the rest of the water. I considered cutting out my tongue to get rid of the taste.  

 

"Where'd you get that ice from?" The Doctor asked, but I was too busy trying to pour the water he used for the tea down my throat to answer. "Oi! Don't drink it!!"  

 

I set the steaming pot back on the stove and sighed, "There." 

 

The Doctor rushed over, and forced my mouth open, pointing his sonic down my throat. "Are you okay?! You shouldn't do that, you could've burned off all your taste buds!!"  

 

I coughed, making a puff of smoke escape my mouth, and pushed away from him. "I'm fine," I told him.  

 

"Did you just cough up smoke?!" He exclaimed.  

 

"Only 'cuz you were sticking you flashlight down my throat!" I snapped.  

 

"Don't diss the sonic!" He scolded, tapping his metal object on my forehead.  

 

"Then don't shove your stick down my throat!" I argued, crossing my arms over my chest. "It's not my fault you tried to poison me with that stuff! What's is that anyway!" 

 

"It's tea," he huffed, sitting back down.  

 

"Tea doesn't taste good," I mumbled, going over to the fridge. "Do you have anything other than tea?" 

 

"There should be orange juice, or something," he replied. 

 

"I thought orange was a color," I mumbled. "Whatever." I went into the freezer and spotted the chocolate fudge ice cream I had the other day. Pulling that out along with a spoon, I sat back down.  

 

"I thought you were getting orange juice?" The Doctor asked, noticing the container of ice cream in my lap.  

 

"I don't think I'll like to drink colors," I answered, licking the brown off the spoon. With my body being unnaturally hot, the ice cream melted off the spoon and into my mouth easily.  

 

The Doctor choked on his tea for a second, and gasped. My eyes went wide, "Are you okay?!" Was it something I said! Why is he-- 

 

My paranoid thoughts were cut off by his loud laughter. I stared at him, my hazel eyes wide, wha-- why was he laughing?  

 

"I'm sorry," he finally gasped after a full minute. "I just... Auggie, orange juice isn't actually made up of a color."  

 

A smile was etched onto his face, making his blue eyes shine. "Are-Are you okay?" I asked, still very worried that he was choking.  

 

"I'm fine," he assured, "Orange is a fruit. It looks orange, so they decided to call it orange juice."  

 

"... Oh..." I slowly nodded, eating my ice cream again, and watching him carefully, just in case he decided to choke himself again. "That must be confusing..." 

 

He laughs again, shaking his head. I turned my head to hear Rose coming down the hallway, with a different change of clothes on, and a smile on her face. "What's going on in here?" She asked. 

 

"Auggie thought she was drinking colors," the Doctor explained, with a small chuckle.  

 

Rose rolled her eyes, and messed up my hair again. The Doctor handed her the sandwich he made her, which she gladly munched on. "So, where to next?" She asked after she finished the sandwich.  

 

If I'm correct, the next episode would be the Dalek one in America, 2012. I think the dalek sent out a message to the Doctor, so as long as he gets it, I'll be safe.  

 

"I dunno. Where do you wanna go, Auggie?" The Doctor asked, nudging me.  

 

I blinked, then shrugged, "I dunno. Maybe... Um..." I didn't expect him to put me on the spot like that. I really had no clue where I wanted to go. There was this one thing that I've always wanted to see, though...  

 

"Um... You know how there are lights in the sky? Can we go see that?" I forgot what the word for it was, but I've always wanted to see it. Ever since I escaped, I wanted to, and with this opportunity to travel with the Doctor, maybe we could go see them. Not now, of course, since we were going to save the Dalek, but maybe later?  

 

A smile tugged at the Doctor's lips, "You mean a star?" I nodded, that was what they were called.  

 

"I'm sure we can pull that off, can't we Doctor?" Rose beamed, to the Doctor, we was smiling also.  

 

"'Course we can," the Doctor grinned.  

 

I smiled as well, a small one that is, "Thank you."  

 

The Doctor jumped up, and messed up my hair, "The pleasure is all mine."  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Later, Rose decided that it was time for me to take a bath(so I wouldn't smell like ashes, as she put it) and get dressed, but leaving my hair sopping wet. She gave me a deep purple tee-shirt, black jeans, tennis shoes, jean jacket.  

 

"Now, its time to do that mane of yours," she announced, sitting me down in front of a mirror. "I watched some videos earlier about how to do African hair, and I think that I got how to do a cornrows down."  

 

"'Cornrows'?" I asked, very confused. She was going to roll corn in my hair? 

 

"I know, it sounded weird to me too," she agreed. "But after a bit of practice, I think I got it down."  

 

She wet the brush in the water and began to force it through my hair. I bit my lip as she pull my hair, forcing the knots straight, until finally, the brush snapped in half, leaving the broken half in my hair.  

 

Rose sighed, picking up another brush. "This is going to be a long day," she sighed, repeating the process. 

>*< about 2 hours later >*< 

My head was completely sore as Rose finished off the last braid. "THERE!" She cried, dropping her hands to the side, "DONE." 

 

On my head were a bunch of rows of hair that fell down into just what she called braids at the bottom. I gaped at the mirror, pulling a little on my hair, "I didn't know you could do this," I awed, feeling the braids. It was carefully woven that went down to at least the end of my elbow.  

 

"Yeah," she said, out of breath.  

 

I heard the Doctor bang on the door, again. "Are you two done yet? It's been two hours, five minutes, and 42 seconds!"  

 

Rose shot up, and went to the door, "Yes we did finish. Would you like to see?" 

 

"Yes, in fact I would," I heard the Doctor say on the other side of the door.  

 

Rose opened the door, revealing me, my braids were plentiful down my back and some over my shoulders, but big also. This was a major improvement from just keeping it in a mess all the time.  

 

"Wow," he awed, and nodded to Rose. "Well done." 

 

"Do you like it?" I asked the Doctor.  

 

He grinned, and helped me out of the chair, my butt was sore for sitting in it for hours, "I love it!" He smiled brightly and led me out of the room. "Now let's go see the stars!"  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta.
> 
> Please do not copy.


	10. C H A P T E R  E I G H T

Chapter 9: 

Augusta's POV  

 

"So, what is it? What's wrong?" Rose asked as we stepped out of the TARDIS.  

 

"Don't know," the Doctor frowned. "Some kind of signal drawing the TARDIS off course..." He looked at me, "Sorry Auggie, we might have to go see the stars some other time." 

 

"It's okay," I shrugged, I didn't really care. We needed to be here anyway.  

 

"Where are we?" Rose asked.  

 

"Earth, Utah, North America. About half a mile underground," the Doctor answered easily.  

 

"When are we?" I asked.  

 

"2012."  

 

"God, that's so close," Rose awed. "So I should be... 26." She grinned to me. "You'll be, what, 19?"  

 

I blinked and scratched my head. "Yeah, I guess..." I don't really care, I probably wouldn't even live to be 19 anyway. I turned to the Doctor. "How old would you be? 907?"  

 

He chuckled, "Time lords age faster. I'll probably be 1,000 by 2012." The Doctor found a light switch and turned it on, illuminating the room.  

 

"Blimey! It's a great big museum!" Rose exclaimed, gawking at the room, walking around and such.  

 

I turned and looked on the other side of the room, finding a big portrait. It was about 3x5 feet, with a golden rim, but sealed by a casing. The picture was interesting though. It was of a girl, with dark skin, shooting fire out of her hands. The ground around her was cracked and frosty white, but flames was shooting out of it. Her hair was waving around wildly, as if being blown by wind. 

 

Surrounding her was a mass of bodies, all seemingly dead, but what caught my eye was a blue object in the corner, that I could've sworn was the TARDIS. The girl in the picture looked to be mad, and was fighting someone. At her feet was a girl with blonde hair, also apparently dead. 

 

I squinted and looked closer, the man across from here wore a black jacket, and pointed a silver and blue stick.  

 

Is that the sonic? I leaned in further, getting a closer look at the man. He... He looked just like the Doctor! The thing looking like the TARDIS would make sense now, and--  

 

Wait. Then, where was Rose? And who would be the girl? If that was the Doctor, then... Was the girl... Me?  

 

The sounds of loud alarms blaring, yanked me away from my thoughts. I backed up quickly, stumbling into a object with a glass cover, making the whole thing shudder. Before it could fall over, the Doctor steadied it with his hands, just as a bunch of soldiers bearing guns came in.  

 

"If someone's collecting aliens, that makes you Exhibit A," Rose muttered under her breath as the Doctor grinned.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

We were being led down a hallway, I could hear the conversation going on in the room where Van Statten was, they were talking about a artifact that they discovered. "... And this is the last... paid $800,000 for it," the British one, Adam I think his name was, said as we walked in. He was holding a black stone-like thing, with small ridges on it. 

 

"What does it do?" He asked, taking it from him, as the three of us entered the room.  

 

"Well you see," Adam began. "The tubes on the side must be to channel something, I think maybe fuel..." 

 

"I really wouldn't hold it like that," the Doctor suggested, giving the trio a funny look.  

 

"Shut it," the woman, Goddard, hissed. 

 

"Really, though, that's wrong," he continued. 

 

"Is it dangerous?" Adam asked, taking notice to him.  

 

"No," he shook his head a bit, "It just looks silly." He holds his hand out, to see the it, making the soldier ready their weapons. I glared heatedly at them.  

 

Van Statten put up a hand, and they lowered their weapons, I relaxed as the Doctor took the stone thing from them, I forgot what he had called it. "You just have to be," he rubbed his fingers gently across the smooth-looking stone. "... Delicate," he finished with a small smile, as a peaceful, soft sound emits from the object.  

 

"It's a musical instrument," Van Statten pointed out.  

 

"And a long way from home," the Doctor added. 

 

Statten snatched the device off the Doctor, "Here, let me." He rubs his hands against the instrument, as he called it, and created a loud, piercing sound, making me wince. My ears were a bit sore from that alarm earlier also, so that didn't help very much... 

 

"I did say 'delicate'," the Doctor points out. "Reacts to the smallest fingerprint." Van Statten did it again, this time creating a soft noise, similar to the Doctor's. "There you go.  Quite the expert," he praised.  

 

Van Statten threw the object behind him, like it was no longer interesting, all our eyes widens, as we look at the wealthy man in surprise. "Who exactly are you?" He asks.  

 

The Doctor glared at him, "I'm the I'm Doctor, who're you?" 

 

Van Statten scoffed, "Like you don't know. We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extra-terrestrial artifacts in the world and you just stumbled in by mistake!" 

 

"Pretty much sums me up, yeah," the Doctor shrugged.  

 

"The question is, how did you get in? 53 floors down. With your little cat burglar accomplice," he looked at Rose, who narrowed her eyes. "Quite a collector yourself, she's rather pretty." 

 

"She's gonna smack you if you keep calling her 'she'!" Rose glared.  

 

"She's English too!" He exclaimed. "Hey, little Lord Fauntleroy -- got you a girlfriend!" He looked at me and I gave him a hard glare. "Who's the munchkin?"  

 

What the hell's a munchkin?  

 

I turned to the Doctor, who just shook his head. "This is Mr Henry Van Statten," Adam told us, after a short silence. 

 

As much as I didn't like Van Statten, when I watched the show, his name was interesting, so I remembered it. As was the name "Goddard." 

 

Rose scoffed, "And who's he when he's at home?"  

 

Adam rolled his eyes, "Mr. Van Statten owns the Internet," he stated, a bit of proudness shown in his voice.  

 

"Don't be stupid," Rose rolled her eyes , "No one owns the Internet." 

 

"And let's just keep the whole world thinking that way, right kids?" Van Statten grinned.  

 

"You have an interesting portrait in your... Collection," I spoke up, my arms crossed. "Where'd you get it from?"  

 

"Oh, the Munchkin speaks!" He announced.  

 

"Of course I talk, idiot," I rolled my eyes.  

 

"Oh, aren't you feisty," he smirked. "I might have to add you to my collection." He reached out his and to touch my chin, but I slapped it away.  

 

"Don't touch me," I growled at the man. We had a small glaring contest, but the Doctor soon ended it.  

 

"So you're an expert on just about everything except the things in your museum," he said. "Anything you don't understand, you lock up." 

 

"And you claim greater knowledge?" Van Statten challenged.  

 

"I don't need to make claims, I know how good I am," the Doctor retorted. 

 

"And yet, I captured you," Van Statten scoffed. "Right next to the Cage. What were you doing down there?" 

 

"You tell me." 

 

"The cage contains my one living specimen." 

 

"And what's that?" 

 

"Like you don't know!" 

 

"Show me." 

 

"You wanna see it?" 

 

As they squabbled, Rose muttered, "Blimey, you can smell the testosterone."  

 

"What's testosterone?" I whispered.  

 

"I'll explain later," she sighed.  

 

"Goddard -- inform the Cage. We're heading down," Van Statten told her, and she pushed on her ear, talking into her mic-thing. 

 

"You -- English. Look after the girl and Munchkin. Canoodle or spoon, or whatever it is you British do. And you -- Doctor with no name..." He turned to the Doctor, "Come and see my pet." 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

"What's a munch-in?" I asked Rose while we walked down the hallway.  

 

"Munchkin," she corrected. "It's like a dwarf." 

 

"What's a dwarf?" 

 

"It's a short person," she replied.  

 

"Oh," I frowned, realizing her words. "HEY! I'm not short!" I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest. "I'm just vertically challenged!" 

 

Adam laughed, "Whatever you say." 

 

"Shut up, Adam," I grumbled.  

 

He turned around to look at me, "I never gave you my name." My eyes fractioned, shit. 

 

"Where are we going, anyways," I asked, trying to change the subject.  

 

"My workshop," he answered and opened a door, that I'm guessing was his workshop.  

 

My jaw dropped when I saw all the metals and working materials in the room. I looked up at Rose, silently begging for permission. Rose turned to Adam. "Can Augusta play around with you stuff?" She asked polietly.  

 

He looked down at me, seeing my eager face. "Sure, I guess, just don't break anything."  

 

As soon as those words left his mouth, I ran across the room, picking up whatever I could get my hands on. What to make, what to make?  

 

An idea flashed into my head and a grin spread on my face, I could rebuild my shrink ray!  

 

Gathering up the part I would need, I brought them all to a table, and began to work. My hands flying across the metal object, molding the pieces into place. I had memorized the layout for the shrink ray a long time ago, so I had no problem in wiring and such.  

 

"What is she doing?" I heard Adam ask, as I finished the handle.  

 

"I don't know, just leave her, she'll be done soon," Rose said.  

 

I quickly finished, and molded the metal around it, and grinned. "Rose, look! I finished!" I grinned showing her my new, and improved, shrink ray.  

 

"That's great Auggie!" Rose smiled, "What is it?"  

 

I smirked, and pointed the ray at one of the racks of supplies, before they could stop me. A bright light shot out of the end, and in a few second, the rack, and everything on it, had disappeared.  

 

"Wha-- Hey! I needed that! There were millions of dollars of equipment on that!" Adam exclaimed, running a hand through his hair and his eyes wide.  

 

I rolled my eyes and walked over to where the rack was, or should be, and picked up the miniaturized metal rack. I showed it to Rose and grinned, "See!" I smiled.  

 

Adam gaped and Rose messed up my hair, "Nice job kiddo."  

 

"You-You shrunk it!" He yelled, taking the small rack.  

 

"Yep," I grinned. 

 

"How? Why?!"  

 

I shrugged, "You said I could. I'll turn it back if--" 

 

"No! No, this is a scientific breakthrough! You're a genius! You have to show me how you did this!" He looked at me, an unknown emotion shining in his eyes.  

 

"Uh... Sure. It's not that hard," I said, with a shrug. 

 

"Not that hard?!" He exclaimed, "You just created a scientific breakthrough in a matter of minutes! I have got to show this to Mr. Van Statten -- I've got to show you to Mr. Van Statten!" 

 

He grabbed my arm, but I quickly snatched it back, "Don't touch me!" I shouted, glaring heavily at him. I didn't care who he was or what he was going to do, but I did not want him touching me.  

 

He frowned at this, "What's wrong?" 

 

"Uh, Adam, I don't think that's a good idea," Rose said, as I narrowed my eyes at the man. "She doesn't like being touched." 

 

He looked at Rose, then to me, "Why?" He asked, curiously. His eyes settled down on my hands, where my gloves rested. I shoved them in my pockets self-consciously. "Is it because of those gloves? Why are you wearing gloves?"  

 

I narrowed my eyes at him, but didn't answer. Rose cleared her throat awkwardly, and picked up a metal lump off the table. "Um... What does this do?" She asked, changing the subject.  

 

Hs turned to her, "Well, I think it's part of a spacecraft." He carefully took it from her, setting my shrink ray on the table beside him. "The thing is, it's all true. Everything the United Nations tries to keep quiet -- spacecrafts -- aliens -- visitors to Earth -- they really exist."  

 

As he talked to Rose, I began to quickly dismantle the shrink ray. We weren't going to be here long, so I decided to not let them be able to get it.  

 

Once the machine was destroyed, I placed the power source discreetly underneath a pile of junk. It wouldn't be any use anyway, but I still didn't want him to have it.  

 

"Auggie, we're going to go see the Cage, do you wanna come?" Rose asked, they both were standing by the door.  

 

I nodded, and followed the two, as we went to the elevator. "What did you do to that shrink ray?" Adam asked.  

 

"Nothing," I lied. "I left it in your workshop, why?"  

 

"I wanted to show Mr. Van Statten. It really was amazing that you are able to build something like that. You're a genius," he smiles to me, but I just gave him a blank stare.  

 

"Thank you," I answered, as the elevator came to a halt.  

 

"I'm serious," he said, "Think of how much money you could make off that! You'll be a billionaire in a matter of days!"  

 

"I don't want to be a billionaire," I replied. 

 

He scoffed, "Who doesn't want to be a billionaire? That's, like, everyone's dream!"  

 

"I don't," I insisted. "Mr. Van Statten is a billionaire, and look at him. Mean, old, and people only like him for his money. If being a billionaire makes you like that, then I never want to be one." Once I finished with my mini-speech, the doors opened and revealed the lower layer of the underground building. I stepped out quickly, paying no mine to Adam's gaping face.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

He groaned in pain as Van Statten scanned him again. One of the scientist walked into the room, whispering something into Van Statten's ear so he couldn't hear, and then left the room. 

 

"Wonderful," the wealthy man grinned, and turned to him. "I had your little friends given a quick scan as well, not as elaborate as this one, of course. English one is completely human, apparently, but the little one, she's interesting!" He smirked. "She's not human, at least not fully. So tell me Doctor, what is she?" 

 

He glared hatefully, it was one thing to threaten him, it was another to threaten Augusta; a child. "Don't you dare harm her!" He threatened. "You hurt a single hair on her head, and--"  

 

"And you'll what, Doctor?" Van Statten challenged, interrupting his threat. "What at you going to do? Yell at me? You are in my trap, tied up. You can't do anything. The Munchkin, though, she's wandering about, just waiting to be apart of my Collection." A evil grin stretched his face, and he turned to the guards. "Bring me the girl." He ordered them, who saluted him in response and left the room. 

 

"Please Van Statten, I'm begging you!" He begged, "You don't know what you're dealing with! She's powerful, even I don't know the extent to her powers. Set her off, and you'll kill everyone in the compound!" 

 

"Hush Doctor," the man rolled his eyes, ignorantly. "Now, let's see what other interesting parts you have..." Van Statten scanned him again, making him wince and wither in pain. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

 

I was very tense. My arms were crossed and pushed against my chest, and I flinched whenever one of them brushed past me. The room was absolutely crawling with white-coated men, dressed similar, if not exactly, like them. It made me want to throw up!  

 

Taking another deep breath, I continued on, my eyes watching every single corner of the busy room, waiting for someone to jump out of the shadows and hurt me.  

 

"... Augusta," Rose's voice entered my on-edge mind, making me jump. I turned to her, her eyes shining with concern and her mouth twisted into a frown. "Are you okay?" 

 

"Yeah," I said, a bit quickly. "'Course I'm okay. Never been better actually. Let's just hurry up and, you know, see the dalek-- alien! See the alien." I corrected myself quickly.  

 

Rose looked at me strangely, "'Dalek'? What's a 'dalek'? Are you sure you're okay?"  

 

She reached out her hand to touch me, but I pushed it away. "I'm fine," I insisted, "I'm a bit worried about the Doctor, you know?"  

 

She smiled at me softly, "The Doctor will be fine," she said. "He's a big boy." She giggled at her joke and I nodded, giving her a forced, yet convincing, smile.  

 

She seemed to buy it, and continued to walk through the hoard of white-coated men, as I followed stiffly.  

 

When a hand was placed on my shoulder, a semi-loud yelp escaped my mouth. My powers flared dangerously, and moved away, forcing my racing heart to calm down.  

 

The man who had touched me was a soldier with blonde hair, tanned skin, and steely, hard gray eyes. There were about five or six soldiers around him also. "The Doctor has requested your presence," he informed.  

 

Hearing the timelord's name, Rose turned around. "The Doctor? What does he need?"  

 

"We were not informed of his needs," he answered the blonde-haired woman. "We were giving orders to locate Augusta and bring her to him."  

 

"Augusta? Why Augusta? Did he ask for me also? Is he in trouble?" Rose asked, now she was worried. 

 

Someone else stepped forward, a woman this time. She had coal black hair, green eyes, and pale skin. "The Doctor is not currently in any danger," she told her. "All we know is that Augusta was to be brought to him."  

 

Rose nodded, understandably, but my eyes were narrowed. At this point, the Doctor should be with Van Statten, held hostage. Something definitely wasn't right. "Oh okay," Rose answered, and smiled at me. "I guess you were a bit right to worry then. You seem tense anyway, why don't you head over to the Doctor and see what he wants? I'll meet up with you later." 

 

"I don't think that's necessary," I said. "I'm sure the Doctor doesn't need me that badly--" 

 

"We were told that this is urgent," the woman said again.  

 

"You'd better see him then," Rose said, a frown on her face. "In fact, I should go also, if it is urgent."  

 

"Only Augusta is required," the male soldier said. "We were given strict orders to only take her, I apologize ma'am."  

 

"... Okay..." Rose said hesitantly. "Go on the Auggie. It seems important." 

 

I really didn't want to go with them. "Are you sure he said 'urgent'? M-maybe he's just exaggerating, or something?"  

 

"You must come with us," the male said firmly.  

 

"It'll be fine Auggie," Rose encouraged. "If you're worried about not seeing the alien, then I'm sure the Doctor will come back down to sort all this out. You can see it when he does."  

 

I twirled a finger on a loose hair, and gave her a slow, small nod. If the dalek did get out, then Rose would be able to handle it. She did in the actual episode, and she could do it now.  

 

Rose smiled at my silent response and gave me a hug. "That's my girl," she praised. 

 

"Be careful," I whispered in her ear. "Please." 

 

We pulled apart, she was holding my hands, and I didn't protest, for once. She grinned, "Of course I will. Go on then see what the Doctor wants. I'll see you later, yeah?"  

 

With that, she turned and walked down the hallway, following Adam. I stared at her distant figure, until she turned the corner and was out of sight.  

 

My arm was pulled, yanking me the opposite direction. "Hey! Let go of me!" I protested, trying to pull my arm away, but his grip was like iron.  

 

"Shut up," the man hissed, completely dropping his polite attitude from earlier, much like that man in Rome. I was pulled in front of the soldier, and they successfully surrounded me completely, giving me the chance to analyze them. There were five of them, all two times my height and strength, armed, and dangerous. One woman, four males. The odds of fighting against them at once were not in my favor.  

 

A gun was pushed to my back, forcing me to go faster, "Hurry up," one of them urged, as we walked into the elevator.  

 

I looked at the elevator number, instead of being taken to the level I knew the Doctor was on, we were taken to one far below that, luckily not lower than this one. Unfortunately, it was a couple of levels below level 46, the one where the Doctor would shut the doors on, locking the dalek in. 

 

"So..." I said, trying start a conversation. "Who's going to be the one to tell me I'm not going to see the Doctor?" 

 

There was a short pause. You couldn't even hear breathing. "You're not going to go see the Doctor," the woman finally said.  

 

"Well isn't that obvious," I rolled my eyes, then stared at the metal ceiling and sighed. You could see the hard earth lining the walls through the holes and the metal wiring going up. My head was pushed straight by someone behind me.  

 

"Stop," he commanded.  

 

"We were told you're very powerful," the woman said. "Do you have powers? Are you an alien?" 

 

I shrugged, "I dunno," I stated honestly, fiddling with my fingers. "I'm kind of alien. Ish. At least, I've been told. You know, it wasn't hard to find out that something was wrong, I mean, who sends out five soldiers to pick up one girl?"  

 

"Do you have powers?" The woman asked again, seeing that I had dodged her question.  

 

"I dunno," I shrugged again. "Depends on your definition of powers. Could a human do this?" I snapped my fingers and the elevator jolted to a involuntarily stop. I was controlling the metal wiring.  

 

If you don't understand, metal has small grains of earth in it, and earth, along with wind, are very easy to control. Metal isn't as easy as earth to control, but since it isn't so dangerous and constantly moving like water and fire, it isn't that hard. Unfortunately, it takes alot of energy to control it for too long and has some serious consequences when using it, so I needed to hurry up. 

 

Instantly, five guns were pointed at me, safeties off. I pointed to the air, carelessly, and the guns shot out of their hands, attaching themselves to the ceiling, along with any other metal weapon they had, like a magnet. The ceiling was quick filled with knifes, guns, and pretty much any other weapon that you could think of.  

 

The woman went to her collar, talking into her communicator placed in it. "We've got a problem in elevator 1-a," she said. "Target had seemed to stopped the elevator. Requesting immediate back up. I repeat, Target has stopped th elevator. Bring immediate back up. This is Code Red."  

 

"That's not going to help," I frowned, and she stared at me. "Jammed the metal inside the communicator."  

 

The woman glared at me, "Don't even think of doing anything!"  

 

"I wasn't going to," I said. "No, that's a lie. I was going to escape, but seeing that you four are all still conscious, that wouldn't be very wise." 

 

"'Four'?" The man, to the right of me said. "There are five of us--" 

 

Before he could finish that sentence, he dropped to the ground like a fly, making the elevator jolt. "Johnson!" The woman shouted, checking his pulse.  

 

"He's fine," I told her. "Just sleeping, that's all." True to my word, she sighed in relief. I didn't kill him, obviously, I had only stopped the blood flow to his brain momentarily. He would probably just be sleeping for a while, that's all. 

 

"What do you want?" The blond from earlier asked angrily. "What did you do to Soldier Johnson?" 

 

I frowned, "Isn't it obvious? I want to escape, duh." I clapped my hands and grinned, "Okay! Next question: Who's going to be the one to tell Van Statten that five fully grown adults couldn't beat one fourteen year old human-ish girl?" 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

He was in a lot of trouble.  

 

The dalek had escaped the Cage and was killing everyone on sight. Augusta was taken by Van Statten, and he had no clue where she was. He would've refused to help Van Statten, if Rose had not been down there with the dalek. In order to save Rose, he had to stop the dalek. He had an idea, but it would risk Rose's -- and maybe even Augusta's -- lives.  

 

"WHERE SHALL I GET MY OR-DERS NOW?" The dalek asked, it sounded almost scared, which was not normal, or even possible, for a dalek.  

 

"You're just a soldier without commands," he said. 

 

"THEN I SHALL FOL-LOW THE PRI-MA-RY OR-DER -- THE DA-LEK IN-STINCT, TO DES-TROY! TO CON-QUER!" 

 

"What for? What's the point?" He asked the alien exasperatedly. "Don't you see? It's all gone.  Everything you were, everything you stood for!"  

 

"THEN WHAT SHOULD I DO?" The dalek asked.  

 

"All right then. If you want orders... follow this one: kill yourself!" 

 

"THE DA-LEKS MUST SUR-VIVE!" 

 

"The Daleks have failed! Why don't you finish the job and make the Daleks extinct? Rid the Universe of your filth, why don't you just die?!" You could hear the pure, passionate hatred for the dalek, no, for the entire race of daleks in his voice. He did hate the daleks, everytime he stopped them, everytime he averted their plans against the universe, they came back! They were like ants, very deadly, dangerous ants! 

 

The dalek paused, "YOU WOULD MAKE A GOOD DA-LEK." The video cut off, leaving the Doctor speechless, questioning its words. A good dalek?  

 

He took a deep breath. He needed to stop this dalek, it was his responsibility. He should've killed it when he had the chance, when he first saw it.  

 

"Seal the vaults." 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

I raced down the hallway, the alarms signaling that the dalek had escaped were blaring. I was on level 45, I had long escaped the elevator containing the soldiers. They were all unconscious, and the doors were closed, so the dalek wouldn't get to them.  

 

I heard the sound of the bunker door closing, I was so close! I could see Rose and Adam at the end of the hallway, the dalek in-between them. There they are! I ran faster than I probably ever had in my life. 

 

Time seemed to slow down. The bunker had almost closed, I grabbed Rose's hand, holding a hand out to the bunker door that was held by tons of metals. The door stayed in place for a split second. I pushed Rose through it, getting her safely across. Just as the doors slammed shut and the locks clicked. I was trapped. I saved her, but I was trapped.  

 

"Rose, where are you?! Rose, did you make it?!" The Doctor's voice said. I looked down to see Rose's phone on the ground.  

 

I picked it up, wiping my nose that had dripped a bit of blood from holding the metal chamber doors. "Rose is safe Doctor," I told him.  

 

I heard him let out a breath of relief. "Thank goodness. Thank Rass-- wait, Auggie? Auggie, you're okay! Why do you have Rose's phone? What's going on?" 

 

"Rose is safe, and that's all that matters," I sighed. The dalek was quickly approaching. "I saved Rose." 

 

"Augusta, please don't tell me that you're trapped!!" His voice held a panic to it.  

 

"Doctor, the Dalek's coming," I told him, a tear slipping down my cheeks, the dalek was advancing, but it hadn't shot me yet. 

 

"Augusta, you need to get out of there!! Please, just get out!!" 

 

"I'm sorry Doctor," I took a deep breath. "I'm so sorry. This wasn't supposed to happen. I'm sorry, Doctor. I-I love you." I ended the call, ignoring the Doctor's desperate cries, and turned to face the dalek that was staring at me.  

 

"Hello there," I said, giving it a weak smile. The least I could do was stall my death. "You're a dalek right? From the planet Skaro, created by Davros?" 

 

The dalek stopped, and stared at me, so I continued. "You can be blinded by your eyestalk if shattered maybe. One of the most dangerous alien species in the universe; enemy to the Time Lords during the Last Time War, which ended up in the exploding of Gallifrey." 

 

"WHO ARE YOU?" The dalek asked, pointing its weapon, that looked like a whisk with a hole in it, at me. "STATE YOUR NAME!"  

 

"Now why would I do that, peppershaker?" I asked curiously. "I mean, we're all aliens here, why can't we just talk rationally, hmm?"  

 

"YOU ARE NOT OF AL-I-EN OR-I-GIN TO THIS PLANET! YOU ARE HU-MAN!" The dalek accused. 

 

"Eh... Not really," I said, stuffing my hands in my pockets. "I'm kind if human. Ish." 

 

It ran its eyestalk up and down my body, as if to scan me. "WHAT ARE YOU? STATE YOUR NAME AND SPE-CIES SO YOU CAN BE ELI-MIN-ATED" 

 

I sucked in my teeth, "No thank you."  

 

"THEN YOU SHALL BE EX-TER-MIN-ATED!" It pointed its weapon at me, but I rose my hands in the air. 

 

"But why?" I asked, curiously. "Why exterminate me?"  

 

"YOU ARE AN ENE-MY TO THE DA-LEKS! YOU MUST BE DES-TROYED!"  

 

"Okay, then do it," I said, holding my hands out. "Shoot me." The dalek pointed its gun at me, but nothing came out. "I said do it, EXTERMINATE ME!" He tried again, but nothing came out. I laughed. "Hah, I am a genius." 

 

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!" The dalek asked confused.  

 

I smirked, "You took the DNA of Rose Tyler in order to genetically repair your exo-skeleton. Before that, I tied a strands of my hair to her finger, and you took that with you. You couldn't kill Rose Tyler from her fear, and you can't kill me because of love!" 

 

The dalek stared at me, as if it was horrified. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME!?" It asked, "YOU HAVE CO-TAM-IN-ATED ME!!"  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

As soon as Rose entered the room, he engulfed her in a hug. Her eyes were red in puffy from recent crying. "She-She saved me Doctor!" She sobbed in his arms. "She saved me and now she's dead!" She spat the words like venom.  

 

He couldn't believe it also, he had no clue how Augusta had saved her, but she did, and now she was dead. And it was all his fault.  

 

"OPEN THE BULK-HEAD OR AUG-UST-A DIES!" The dalek said, making him spin around. The screen had flashed to life, showing the fourteen year old and the dalek.  

 

"Hello," she greeted. 

 

"AUGUSTA!" Rose shouted, "You're alive!!" 

 

"Apparently," she shrugged carelessly. How could she be so calm in a situation like this?! "This dalek is all too nice and-- hey! That's a reading word! Doctor, you owe me a rock."  

 

He scoffed, really? Now was definitely not the time. And a dalek, being nice? That's not possible, a dalek kills on sight, she should be dead! "How are you alive?!" He interrogated, "Are you okay!?" 

 

"I'm fine. Ish. Just a bit tired, that's all. Could definitely go for ice cream after-- OW!" She glared at the dalek, "Don't poke me with your whisk, pepper shaker! That hurts!" She swatted at the metal machine, making him gape. "At least use that plunger, that's softer!" She huffed and crossed her arms.  

 

"THIS IS NOT A WHISK, HU-MAN! THIS IS A DEATH RAY!" The dalek argued with her. "I AM NOT A PEP-PER SHA-KER, I AM A DA-LEK!" 

 

"Same thing," she rolled her eyes.  

 

"OPEN THE BULK-HEAD!" The dalek ordered and the screen cut off.  

 

"Was... Was she arguing with the Metal-- dalek?" The boy who had entered with Rose asked.  

 

"She called it a pepper shaker..." Rose said.  

 

"She's insane," Van Statten stated.  

 

He ran a hand down his face, "I don't know why she's acting like that, but there is a limit to how much she pushes a dalek," he said, going over to the key board. "And I don't want to see that result." He pushed the enter button, to open the bulkhead doors.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

The video cut off, leaving me with the dalek. "So... What's your name?" I asked, curiously.  

 

"THE DA-LEKS DO NOT RE-QUI-RE NAMES!" The dalek said.  

 

I frowned, "You know, I didn't have a name for the longest time, then I had to make myself one. Let's make you a name too!" I grinned. "How about... Pepper?" No response. "Salt? Uh... Minnie? Supreme Overlord?" 

 

"SU-PREME O-VER-LORD?" The dalek asked.  

 

"Do you like that one?"  

 

"THE DA-LEKS ARE THE SU-PREME RACE!" The dalek informed, just as the bulk head opened.  

 

"I'll call you Supreme Overlord, but then you need another name after it," I told it as we walked. "You can't just be called 'Supreme Overlord' without a last name. How about... Dally?"  

 

"DALLY?"  

 

"Yeah, 'cuz it sounds like 'Dalek'." It turned to me, giving me a weird look(which was odd, because it was a dalek).  

 

"SU-PREME O-VER-LORD... DALLY?"  

 

I grinned, "I think that sounds brilliant!" I gave it a smile, using the word that Rose used to describe me. There was a short silence.  

 

"WHY ARE YOU BEING KIND TO ME?" The dal-- Supreme Overlord Dally asked. 

 

"Because," I frowned. "I've been in the same position. Being tortured and all. Being used like a experiment. Like an it," I looked at the dalek. "Nobody should have to go through that. It isn't fair. It isn't right." We entered the elevator, which was a felt bit smaller with Supreme Overlord Dally, and Supreme Overlord Dally put the plunger-thing on the controls.  

 

"I HAVE KILLED HUNDREDS," the dalek said, almost sounding... Sad.  

 

"It's not your fault you did that," I told it. "It's in your programming. You can't stop it. It like, I can't just wish to be a dalek. I'll always be human-ish, and I can't change that. You were hurt, and confused. You wanted it to stop. It's okay to be mad." I smiled down, "And besides, I've killed hundreds also." 

 

Before Supreme Overlord Dally could reply, the elevator stopped signaling our arrival. The doors opened to show Van Statten who was cowering in the corner of the room.  

 

"VAN STAT-TEN, YOU TOR-TUR-ED ME, WHY?" He questioned.  

 

Van Statten backed away, a yelp released from his lips. "I wanted to help you, I just-- I don't know, I-I was just trying to help," he stammered over the words that he rambled nervously. "I thought if we could get through to you, if we could mend you-- I wanted you better, I'm sorry!" Nervous sweat beaded down his head, as his voice got higher and more terrified with every word. "I'm so sorry! I swear! I just wanted you to talk!" 

 

"THEN HEAR ME TALK NOW! EX-TER-MIN-ATE! EX-TER-MIN-ATE!" Supreme Overlord Dally advanced on the Van Statten causing a girlish squeal to emit from his lips.  

 

Before he could get shot, I stepped in-between the man and the metal alien. "Stop," I ordered. "I know you're mad, I am too, he wanted to take me and add me to his collection also," I glared at the man and he flinched. "But killing him won't help. You want freedom, don't you? You want to leave?"  

 

The dalek moved his head in a nodding motion. "I WANT FREE-DOM," He answered.  

 

"The Doctor still here, and he won't let you have it if you kill anyone else," I said. "Besides, I know there's a worse fate for this guy."  

 

The dalek didn't answer, and turned to the door, moving away from the man. I turned around and glared at him, but followed the him out the door. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

He and Rose were advancing to level 01, where the dalek would surely escape. He was armed with a weapon, ready to kill the dalek on sight, once the young girl was safe. A tense silence was between the two of them as they ran down the hallway.  

 

Soon they made it to the dalek, with Augusta. The Dalek's exo-skeleton was opened, revealing the mutated insides. "Get away from it, Augusta," he said, his voice was low and cold. He had expected to see the young girl in close to tears, instead seeing her conversing with the alien. 

 

Augusta whipped her head around, her braids curling around her face. She saw the gun in his hands and her eyes narrowed. She stepping in front of the alien, holding out her arms in front of it protectively.  

 

"Augusta, get out of the way now!" He ordered, his gun not  faltering.  

 

"You're not going to hurt him!" She stated defiantly.  

 

"That thing killed hundreds of people!" He argued. 

 

"That doesn't matter, he was scared." 

 

"It can't get scared, Augusta!"  

 

"Please, Auggie, listen to the Doctor and move!" Rose cried from behind him.  

 

"No!" She yelled. He noticed that her eyes flashed a bright red for a second, before returning to normal. "He was hurt! He was scared, and don't even say that he can't be scared, because I know! I've been there before! It's not fair, he deserves to be let go!" 

 

"Augusta, that thing just killed hundreds of people and you want to set it free!" 

 

"Call him a 'thing' one more time and it'll be the last  

word you say," she growled, now her eyes were a dark red. "He was tortured, and now you just want to kill him?! I won't let you!"  

 

"Augusta move!" He shouted.  

 

"MAKE ME!!" She yelled back, her voice echoing down the halls. "I thought you were a Doctor! Doctors don't kill people do they?!" 

 

"You don't understand--"  

 

"Oh I understand perfectly," she hissed. "He's killed hundreds of people, he's a dalek, he was ruthlessly tortured, and now you're going to solve all this by killing him?!" She laughed humorlessly, "Then you might as well kill me as well!" 

 

"What are you talking about?" Rose asked. "Augusta, he's alien--" 

 

"I'm pretty sure that I was explained that I'm not exactly human either," she narrowed her eyes to slits. "Fine then Doctor, shoot us. We're both alien. We've killed people. We both deserve to die, don't we? It's your job after all, to get rid of all the bad things, right? Then kill us, Doctor! Shoot us! SHOOT US!!"  

 

He stared at her, shock written all over his face. Kill her? He couldn't kill her! The dalek, he could, but Augusta? He... He could never kill her. "I've got to do this," he pleaded. "I've got to end it. The Daleks destroyed my home, my people. I've got nothing left." 

 

"Join the club," she said coldly. "At least I'm not the one trying to make a race go extinct. And he's not even killing anything! Look at him!"  

 

She moved out of the way, to show the dalek, its cage opened and its eyes closed. "What's it doing?" Rose asked. 

 

"He," she put emphasis on the 'he', "is feeling the sunlight! Don't you see Doctor? He's perfectly fine! There's no reason to kill him!" 

 

"But... It can't..." He tried to say, his voice was shaking too much and his grip on the gun had loosened.  

 

"He didn't kill Van Statten, he couldn't kill me!" She said. "He's changing! He's not a death-killing-machine, Doctor! He's a living, breathing, creature, and you want to exterminate him! We've both changed into something better, but I don't think I can say the same for you."  

 

He was officially speechless. He dropped the gun, making it clang on the metal flooring loudly. "I couldn't..." He tried to say, but exhaled. "I wasn't... Oh, Auggie. They're all dead..."  

 

He felt close to tears. It was a dalek, so why hadn't he killed it? Why didn't he want to kill it? They made him destroy Gallifrey, they made his race nearly extinct, so why couldn't he do the same?  

 

"Why do we survive?" The dalek asked, pulling him away from his thoughts.  

 

"I don't know..." He answered honestly.  

 

"I am the last of the Daleks," it said, almost remorsefully.  

 

"You're not even that," he told him. "Rose did more than regenerate you. You absorbed her DNA. You're mutating."  

 

"Into what?" It asked. 

 

"Something new. I'm sorry," he apologized. He almost laughed, he was apologizing to a dalek, his mortal nemesis. He never thought that he'd do that. 

 

"Isn't that better?" Rose asked. 

 

"Not for a dalek," he told her.  

 

"I can feel so many ideas. So much darkness... So, so much darkness... Augusta... Rose... Give me orders! Order me to die!" Augusta's eyes widened to saucers. Her red eyes disappearing instantly. 

 

"What? I can't! I--" she cleared her throat. "You don't have to die." 

 

"This is not life. This is sickness," it stated. "I shall not be like you. Order my destruction! Obey! Obey! Obey!" 

 

"Please Supreme Overlord Dally," she begged. "You don't have to die. The Doctor can find a new home or-or save you--!" 

 

"Augusta, I can't," he informed her calmly. "He absorbed Rose's genetic material. There's no way I can--" or would "-- save it." 

 

She looked at him, her hazel brown eyes filled with fear and broken-heartedness. "Please. I-I don't... You can't..." 

 

"I can order you to do it too, right?" Rose spoke up, making Augusta turn to her. "Do it. K-kill yourself." 

 

Augusta's eyes widened, "NO! Don't! Please, don't!" She turned to the dalek. "Please, I was going to save you!" He went over and pulled her away from the dying dalek. She pulled and kicked against his hold, but he wasn't going to let her get away. Steaming hot tears fell down her face and unto his hands. 

 

"Are you frightened, Rose Tyler?" The Dalek asked, ignoring the child.  

 

"Yeah," Rose admitted.  

 

"So am I," it replied, and turned to Augusta. "Thank you, Augusta... For showing me... Love..." Augusta sobbed harder, not answering. Her strength was weakening, her pulls and kicks getting softer. "Ex-ter-min-ate," the dalek said, somewhat feebly.  

 

It replaced its armor back and levitated into the air. A perfect golden translucent sphere surrounding it. He began to glow briefly, before exploding inside the sphere into nothingness. 

 

Augusta had lost it, "NOOO!!" She screamed, sinking to her knees, sobbing into her hands. "No...!" 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

Everyone had silently agreed that it was best to leave me alone. I stood in front of the painting from earlier, staring into space at the dark-skinned girl that resembled me. 

 

A hand touched my shoulder, making me jump. I turned around to see the Doctor staring at the poster with me. He looked down, and our eyes met. "... Hi..." I greeted softly, turning back to the painting.  

 

"Hello..." He answered.  

 

A awkward silence fell on us. "... I'm sorry," I told him, breaking the silence.  

 

"For what?" 

 

"Everything. Protecting Supreme Overlord Dally. Yelling at you. Threatening you. Crying."  

 

He chuckled, which I hadn't expected. "You really named it-- him Supreme Overlord Dally."  

 

"I didn't know what else to name him," I shrugged.  

 

"'Dally'?" 

 

"It sounds like dalek."  

 

"And you called him a pepper shaker!" He said with a small laugh.  

 

"I did, didn't I?" A smile broke out on my face.  

 

Another silence. "What did you mean? When you said that you've killed hundreds? When you said that you and the dalek were the same."  

 

I didn't answer, at first. "That's another story, for another time," I finally said. "Hey Doctor? What is the name of this picture?"  

 

He looked at me for a second, noticing that I had changed the subject. He looked at the metal plate, that was underneath the painting. "It says the name is... 'The Dead, Bad Wolf, the Monster, and the Last.' That's an odd title..." He muttered the last part, just as Rose came bounding down the hall with Adam.  

 

I was frozen. The dead bad wolf? Rose was the Bad Wolf, so why was she dead?! I stared at the painting, realizing why Rose's body was red, like she had been dead. Then... If she was dead... Was-was the Doctor the Last? Since he is the Last of the Time Lords. What about the one that looks like me?! Was I the... The-- 

 

"Auggie, we're leaving," Rose's voice said, snapping me away from the painting.  

 

"Oh... Okay..." I said softly, walking slowly into the TARDIS with Rose, the Doctor, and Adam.  

 

My mind hadn't left the painting. Not when I had entered the TARDIS, not even when we had left for a different planet.  

 

If Rose was the Bad Wolf.  

 

And the Doctor was the Last.  

 

Then I... Was the Monster. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta.
> 
> Please do not copy.


	11. C H A P T E R  N I N E

Chapter 10: 

Augusta's POV 

I walked into the TARDIS blindly, stumbling a little bit in my steps, my head felt light, and my vision blurred every now and then. I could feel a headache coming on. My mind was still set on the painting. I was the Monster! How did Rose die? Was my dream real?! That couldn't be possible I didn't want to kill Rose! She-She wasn't supposed to die, she can't die! This isn't fair, I-- 

 

"Augusta, are you okay?" The Doctor asked, snapping me away from my hectic thoughts. "You look distressed." 

 

"I... I'm fine," I lied with a nod. The last thing I wanted to do was tell the Doctor. He didn't even know what Bad Wolf was, and I didn't want to accidentally start a paradox or something.  

 

He stopped and looked at me, "You're lying."  

 

"No I'm not," I argued, ignoring the gradually pounding feeling of my skull.  

 

"Are you sure, because you're showing symptoms of a headache," he pointed out. "You're wincing." 

 

I sighed, "I'm fine Doc--" I cut my self off by the suddenly going into a coughing fit. My throat suddenly burned as something in my mouth felt warm and liquid-y. I coughed into my gloves to find specks of blood covering it.  

 

My eyes widened, and I covered my gloves in my pockets. The side effects of controlling the metal and blood were starting!  

 

To clear up any confusion, metal is a hard to control, and since I don't have as much of a grasp on it as I do with wind and etc, my body usually can't handle it. This use to happen whenever I first tried to control water, fire, earth, and air, but since I have -- somewhat -- of a grasp on those, it only happens when I try to control blood -- which I don't recommend, or even like, doing -- or metal.  

 

Since I had to control both metal and blood a lot today, I don't think my body liked it too much. "Augusta, are you okay?" The Doctor asked, as he fiddled with the console.  

 

I tried to say something, but it came out as a loud cough, and successfully made me spit up a blob of dark, crimson blood.  

 

The Doctor, obviously, saw this, and dropped everything he was doing and came over to me. "Augusta!" He shouted, catching Rose's attention and making her look away from the boy. He caught my shoulders as my body swayed dangerously. "Augusta, what's wrong? Are you hurt?!" 

 

"I'm fine..." I insisted trying to stand up straight, but my body didn't like that idea. My knees buckled under me, and I almost fell.  

 

"You're not fine!" He said, almost angrily. "Why didn't you tell me you were hurt!"  

 

I looked at his blue eyes that were burning with anger. I had to force myself not to shy away from him. I tried to push his arms off instead, "I'm-I'm not," I coughed again. "I'm not hurt."  

 

The Doctor looked at me skeptically, "I'm bringing you to the Medical Bay," he told me, picking me up. I quickly wiggled out of his grip and fell back on the metal flooring.  

 

"I'm fine," I insisted, trying to look 'fine', when I honestly felt like I was going to drop at any second. I wiped away a spot of blood that trailed my lips. "See? Fine."  

 

"Augusta, you're coughing blood! You're not fine! You're anything but fine." 

 

"I'll live," I replied, but found it the best time to cough again. I felt like my heart was going to jump out of my throat. I gagged, and fell to the ground. Whenever I controlled metal, it was never this bad! I fell to my knees, my body racking with heavy, maybe even lethal, coughs. 

 

I felt his fingers push my forehead, and he tried to get me to sleep, but I resisted. No! I needed to go to Platform 500 with them! There was still more I could do!  

 

'You need to sleep,' a familiar voice told me. 

 

I'm fine! I stated, moving my body to get up, but fell down again. The dimly-lit orange-ish colors if the TARDIS had blended together, making it hard to make out what was what. 

 

'Go to sleep!' The voice ordered and my body had stopped moving and I fell into darkness. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

He was surprised to see that Augusta's mind hadn't completely shut down when he tried to telepathically make her sleep. She was mentally resisting him, trying to keep herself awake. He was forced to push his mind into hers, and manually stop her.  

 

This had also allowed him to hear her desperate thoughts while doing so, 'No! I needed to go to Platform 500 with them!' She cried. Platform 500? What was that? 'There was still more I could do!' 

 

You need to sleep, he thought to her, as she withered in pain. Her eyes were unfocused and half-lidded.  

 

'I'm fine,' she insisted, trying to get up, but fell again. A few spots of blood escaped her mouth.  

 

He frowned, she was obviously not fine! She was coughing blood for Rassilon's sake! He didn't know if she had some kind of internal bleeding or something! Got to sleep! He practically yelled into her mind.  

 

From the force of his command, she finally stopped. Her body went limp and she breathed raggedly, he picked her up, and Rose came over. She was worried, it was painted all over her face.  

 

"What's going on? Why's she bleedin'? Is she hurt or--" 

 

"I'm going to take her to the Medical Bay and make sure she doesn't have any injuries," he interrupted her. "You can stay here with you boyfriend. Just... Don't touch anything."  

 

At the word 'boyfriend', Rose's face heated, "He's not my boyfriend!" She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. He smirked to himself and left the room, heading over to the Medical Bay. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

He was puzzled. As far as he could tell, she didn't have any kind of internal bleeding, or any physical injuries for that matter. He didn't even know where the blood had been coming from!  

 

He knew how much she didn't like needles, but he needed to give her an IV in her arm, to make sure she was getting fluids. He hoped that when she woke up, she wouldn't freak out.  

 

So far, her heart rate had been fine, she didn't seem to be dreaming too, so that was good. He watched as her chest sank and rose steadily, the heart monitor constantly beeping to the pace of her heartbeat echoed in the medical room. Her eyes closed making a peaceful look form on her face, which wasn't very common since she was so usually on edge. Her fingers would twitch every now and then, and he took note of it.  

 

He scowled, he was being domestic! He hated domestic! "Stop it..." He muttered to himself, turning back to the monitor, forcing himself to work on something else.  

 

"Doctor?" Rose's voice said, snapping him away from the metal set. He turned his head to see his companion standing by the door, half-leaning, half-standing on it. "Is she gonna be okay?"  

 

She was still worried. He didn't blame her, he didn't know what was actually wrong with her either. "She's going to be fine," he assured. There was no reason to make her worried also.  

 

She exhaled in relief, and went to go sit beside her bed, stroking her braided hair that fell around her head like a halo softly. "... I really worry about her sometimes, Doctor," She told him. "Did you see the way her eyes changed when she was protecting that dalek?"  

 

He nodded, he had seen it too. He had mentally set aside that fact that her eyes changed colors. Now that he thought about it, her eyes had flashed red when she had that panic attack the other day. That couldn't be a coincidence.  

 

"... Parents?" Rose said, snapping him away from his thoughts. His head shot up.  

 

"Sorry, what?" He hadn't been listening. 

 

She gave him a small glare, "I said, what do you think happened to her parents? How do you think she got here? In London, I mean."  

 

"I don't know what happened to her parents," he replied. "And maybe she ran away, or got separated from her foster parents." 

 

"But she has a American accent," Rose argued. "And if she got separated then don't you think she would've wanted to go back, or-or something." 

 

"I don't know Rose," he sighed, he hated not knowing things. "And, I don't think she would want to go back, in the condition that we found her." Rose flinched when he mentioned her condition. She had thick pieces of glass and metal in her hands. Her face arms and body was bruised. It wasn't the best sight. She had also been scared when she had froze Rose, and scared of him when he panicked when she was freezing to death.  

 

"And what about those gloves?" Rose said, pointing to her black gloved hands. "Remember when she froze me? How did she do that?"  

 

He sighed, rubbing his temples, "I don't know, Rose," he stated. "I--" he stopped himself when he saw the tall young man at the door, the one that Rose had brought in, Adam. 

 

"Oh, there you are," he said to Rose, seemingly oblivious to the conversation they were having a minute ago. "I wanted to ask you something." His eyes trailed to the girl on the bed, and then himself. "Oh... Was I interrupting something?"  

 

"No, no, do you do whatever you apes do. Talk. Mingle. Converse," he said, easily ejecting himself from the two, and focusing on the machine he was fiddling with.  

 

Rose rolled her eyes, and went to talk with the young man. "So... What happened to her?" He asked, pointing to the girl. 

 

"We don't really know," Rose sighed, "Doctor says she'll be fine..." 

 

He nodded, "... Why does she wear gloves?" He asked, curiously. He gave Adam a small look, which the he caught onto. "If you don't mind me asking," he quickly added.  

 

He was about to say something, but Rose beat him to it. "It's fine," she told him. "She just wears them. We don't exactly know, but she has some kind of powers..." 

 

"Powers? What kind of powers?" He inquired.  

 

"It's nothing," the Doctor said, standing up straight. "Now, you two want an adventure, right? Let's go on one. How does the future sound?" He wiggled his eyebrows and grinned. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

I cracked my eyes open to reveal the the blinding white familiar room of the TARDIS Medical Bay, making me squint. It's too bright... I thought, and a minute later the lights dimmed in response.  

 

Wha-- oh wait, TARDIS is alive... I silently thanked the Old Girl, as I sat up. I winced when I felt a small pain in my arm. I looked down to see something sticking out of my arm.  

 

A NEEDLE!  

 

I gasped in surprise, my body froze in fear as I stared at the metal object. No more needles... No more shots... Please, no more needles...   

 

I could hear their laughter echoing from the corners of the room and synchronize with the rapid beeping of the machine beside the bed. No more. No more. No more. No more.  

 

My arm was shaking and I felt like I couldn't breathe. Their laughing got louder, and echoed in my head. "No more. No more. No more. No more," I muttered to myself, "No more needles..."  

 

I needed to-- I-I needed to... I needed to go and-and, I need to-- I don't wanna, I-I... I need...  

 

I couldn't even think straight, I felt like I was back there. He feeling of the metal table I was strapped to made me shiver. My arms stung with the needles that were sticking out of my skin. Blood trailed down my arms and my head felt dizzy from the substances they were pouring into my bloodstream.  

 

My body shivered and I tried to move away from the shot, shakily pulling it slowly out of my arm. I gagged when I felt it move in my body and leave a bit of blood on my hand.  

 

When it was finally out, I practically threw it across the room and fell off the bed, taking the thin white blanket with me. I crawled to the corner of the room and wrap myself in the white blanket, bringing my knees to my chest.  

 

"No-no more. I-I don't want, I-- no-- shots... Please-- no more," I whispered over and over again, trying to block out the laughter and my screams in agony that seemed to be bouncing around in my head. Tears dripped down my face and I gripped my ears, I want it to stop. Make it stop, please. Make it stop.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

After they had properly dropped Adam and his new opening head off at home, he walked back in the TARDIS with Rose.  

 

After he went to park the TARDIS elsewhere, he went down the hallway to check on Augusta. She would probably still sleeping, anyway. Rose followed him, as the TARDIS had directed them to the room.  

 

When they finally made it to the room labeled, "Medical Bay," he opened the door with a small smile on his face. "Augusta?" He called.  

 

The first thing he noticed was that the bed she was in was empty, and the blanket was missing. The second was the small figure in the corner of the room, a white blanket covering it, that was shaking violently. "No more shots... No more shots... No more shots..." He heard her small, trembling voice.  

 

"Augusta!" He cried, racing over to the girl. Her knees were pushed to her chest, her hands were clamped over her ears, gripping tightly on her head. Her body was shaking like a leaf and her eyes were wide with panic and bloodspot, signaling recent crying, and were red again, just like when she was protecting the dalek. Rassilion, what the hell happened to her?! 

 

"No more. No more. No more. No more," she whispered, staring into space, not even looking at him.  

 

"Augusta, calm down," he tried to say he gently, but he couldn't help the panic in his own voice. He didn't know how long she had been like this, it could be hours for all he knew.  

 

"Augusta, look at me," he said gently, reaching out his hand to touch her. As soon as she saw it, she screamed, and pushed herself against the wall, tears escaping her eyes.  

 

"No more! No more, please! I don't-- I-I-I-I--" she couldn't even get her words out.  

 

He retracted his hand, "Auggie, kiddo," Rose said gently, coming over beside him. The terrified girl merely stared st her. "Hey there, how ya doing?"  

 

"I-I don't-- I don't want any-- I don't," was all that came out of her rambling mouth.  

 

"Don't want what, kiddo?" Rose asked, her tone was gentle, as if she was coaxing a scared animal, which would be very appropriate in this situation. 

 

"S-S-Sh-- I don't-- I-I." She gripped her hair tighter, her face contorting into pure horror. "Make it stop! Make it stop!!" She pulled the blankets surrounding her closer to her body,  and she curled up in a ball. She was practically in hysterics by now. 

 

"Auggie calm down!" He tried to say, but she just kept yelling to herself. He needed to make her sleep again.  

 

He moved his hand to press them against her temple, but she saw it, and moved. "Don't touch me! Stop! I don't-- don't touch me!!" She cried uselessly. He took his hand back, and stood up, quickly searching through the cabinets.  

 

"What are you doing, Doctor?" Rose asked, as he found what he was looking for. It was a perfume-like bottle labeled 'Chloroform.'  

 

He quickly pointed it at the girl, spraying the substance in her face. She stopped moving. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped forwards, and he caught her before she could hit the ground.  

 

"What's that?" Rose asked, taking the bottle from him. "'Chloroform'? You drugged her?!"  

 

"There was nothing else I could do," he argued, laying her body on the bed. He spotted the needle with dried blood on it. That was probably what set her off. He began to hook her heart rate monitor back up.  

 

"What just happened? Why was she like that?" Rose asked.  

 

"She had another panic attack," he explained with a short sigh. She really was not mentally stable. "I don't know for how long, it could've been hours for all I know!"  

 

He scowled, he was angry. He shouldn't have left her by herself! Hell, he shouldn't have given her a IV! He was so thick! He knew how much she hated needles! That was just stupid of himself to do that. This was all his fault! What if she had hurt herself?! He would never forgive himself. 

 

"Doctor, are you okay?" Rose asked.  

 

"It's all my fault," he growled, self-loathingly. "I shouldn't have given her a bloody IV. She wouldn't have been like this if I hadn't done that!" 

 

"You were only trying to help," Rose comforted. "It's not your fault." She placed a hand on his arm, and smiled at him.  

 

"She was hysterical," he argued. "She could've hurt herself!"  

 

"She's fine now," Rose insisted. "There's no reason for you to beat yourself up over it." She paused, "Look, it's been a long day. I'm gonna go make a cuppa, you want some?"  

 

He shook his head, he planned on staying here until she woke up. "Okay... Well, if you need something, just shout, yeah?" 

 

"Okay," he nodded, and she left the room. He watched as Augusta's face was twisted in pain, looking exactly the opposite of what she had earlier. He frowned and wondered what kind of monster would cause a child to be as terrified as she was.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

My eyes fluttered open, to reveal the pearly white ceiling. My head was pounding, and my eyes were heavy. I looked over to see the Doctor sitting in the chair beside me, his head was bobbing up and down as he slept.  

 

What happened? I thought numbly. My eyes trailed to the side of the room, and I saw a needle. My eyes shot open, and the memories from earlier returned with full force! "No more..." I muttered, trying to move away from the medical object.  

 

I heard the beep-y thing beat faster and higher and the Doctor shot up. "I'm up! I'm up!" He announced, and saw me, a smile spreading on his face. "Auggie, you're awake!"  

 

"Shot... No more..." I mumbled, and the Doctor's smile faded. Before I even knew what was happening, I felt the Doctor's strong arms surrounding my body and pull me into his chest making me lean over and taking my eyes off the needle.  

 

"Shh, shh," he coaxed. "It's all right, it's all right." 

 

"Th shots... The shots and-- I don't-- I can't--" 

 

"Nobody's going to hurt you, there will be no more shots," he told me silencing my terror. "Just breathe, okay? Breathe." He took a deep breath, signaling for me to do the same, so I did. The beeping thing slowly stopped being so loud, and the Doctor sighed in relief. "There. Crisis diverted." 

 

"Doctor..." I mumbled, pulling out of his grip. "I'm-I'm sorry... I thought you were-- I thought that you were with them. I thought that--" 

 

"We'll never hurt you," the Doctor assured.  

 

"The shot-- the shot was in m-my arm. I didn't know-- I thought that... I thought..." I took a deep, shaky breath. "Doctor... I-I'm sorry..." 

 

"It's okay..." He said. "Don't be sorry, you were scared."  

 

"I just saw the shot and I just assumed... I thought that... You didn't... I'm sorry..." I took a shaky breath. "You were gone for so long... I thought you left me... I thought that--" 

 

He took me by the shoulders, forcing me to look deeply into his crystal blue eyes. "I would never let anyone take you, I swear," he promised, and I nodded softly. He smiled, messing up my hair. "Good. Now that we've got that over with, how about a cuppa?"  

 

That's what Jackie had called it, "You mean..." I racked my mind to think of the word Rose used for it. Tree? Three? Something with a 'ee'.  

 

"Tea," he finished. I nodded, that was what it was called! 

 

"Hey, isn't tea that drink that tasted bad?" I asked, my mouth curled into a frown.  

 

He chuckled, "Yeah... But it's not that bad," he shrugged. "We could get ice cream instead."  

 

A smile formed on my lips, and I nodded eagerly. He grinned and helped me out of the bed, and we went down the hallway to the kitchen.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

I found Rose in the kitchen, pulling something out of the stove. She turned around to see us, and smiled, "Hey kiddo. How ya feelin'?"  

 

"Fine," I answered, looking at the silver metal rectangle she set on the counter. "What's that?" Inside if the rectangle was a red-ish white substance. She was sprinkling some powder on it.  

 

"Lasagna," she answered. "Thought you two might be hungry. I used my mum's recipe. She makes the best lasagna!" 

 

"Laz-aga," I tried to say, the word obviously sounding strange on my tongue.  

 

"Lasagna," she corrected, as I peered into the pan. It was about 3 1/2 inches deep and maybe 7... No, 8 inches long. "I just finished it, actually. I'll cut you some. You too Doctor. Go wash up." 

 

"Wash up what?" I asked, as she shooed us away.  

 

"She means, you need to wash your hands," the Doctor explained, going over to the sink. "Human tradition before eating." 

 

I nodded, putting my gloved-hand in the water, and washing them.  

 

He chuckled, "You need to take off your gloves, Auggie."  

 

I rose a eyebrow, taking my hands out of the water. "Why?" 

 

"'Cos, you're not supposed to eat with gloves on," he explained.  

 

"Oh..." I looked at my gloves, the water steaming off them. I hesitantly took them off, and ran my bare hands in the water, cleaning them.  

 

Once I finished, I went to out my gloves back on, but I caught onto the Doctor's frowning face, making me stop. "What? Did I do something wrong?" I asked. 

 

"You're supposed to eat with your gloves off," he explained.  

 

"But I need my gloves," I argued, "Why can't I eat with them on?" 

 

He shook his head, "Nevermind, wear you gloves," he said, walking over and sitting at the table.  

 

I looked at him, curiously, but joined him at the table. A minute later, Rose came over and set the lasagna on the table, that had a bunch of square lines in it, and joined us. "Let's eat," she grinned, handing me a plate. It was red and layered with white lining on the sides. There were little  brown bumps on the inside and had gooey white insides.  

 

I rose and eyebrow, skeptically, and looked at Rose, who handed me the stabber -- the Doctor called it something else, but I don't remember what he called it. 

 

Taking the stabber, I poked it with the food softly. Making a bit of the red stuff ooze from it. I took out a small part of the food, and ate it. It tasted weird, I don't really know how to describe it, it just tasted... Weird.  

 

"Do ya like it?" Rose asked, a small smile on her face.  

 

I nodded, and forced a smile. She seemed a proud of this, and continued eating. I snuck the Doctor a pleading look, and he silently laughed at me.  

 

After eating -- forcing -- the food down, I got up, and placed my plate in the sink. "So, Auggie, do you still want to go see those stars?" The Doctor asked. 

 

The next episode would be... The one with Rose and her dad. When she created a paradox. That would be an easy one, all I would have to do is make sure she doesn't save her dad so he dies. 

 

I frowned, that doesn't sound very... Nice, now that I think about it. I need a plan.  

 

As I went to the freezer to pull out the chocolate fudge ice cream, getting a spoon, and sitting back down. "Yeah..." I answered, my mouth full of ice cream, that melted on my tongue in seconds.  

 

I would need some way to get Rose to want to go save her dad first, so that way she doesn't want to do it in the future. Maybe I would just ask her about her dad, and she'll want to go and see him? I think that could work.  

 

"... How 'bout it?" The Doctor said, I only caught the last bit of his sentence.  

 

"Sorry, what?"  

 

He sighed, having to repeat everything he just said. "There's this planet in the Castiellion galaxy called Belltrix. Their skies are so clear, they don't get a lot of sunlight during the days. Their known for their stars since it's so easy to see them. I think it'll be fantastic, yeah?" 

 

I smiled, "That sounds great." He grinned, and went to go place his plate in the sink as well, along with Rose's, who had also finished.  

 

Rose went to go clean up as the Doctor told me more about the planet 'Belltrix'. It was apparently home to the Bellians and the Trixitans, who had been rivaling races.  

 

They were both really interesting. The Trixitans supposedly fed off the chemicals that made you lie. And the Bellians would feed off the ones that made you tell the truth.  

 

"I thought it'd be nice to see a few, maybe," he finished his speech, and grinned. "Learn about a their cultures, meet a few, get married accidentally, et cetera."  

 

I smiled, "That sounds great!" He grinned at my enthusiasm and messed up my hair.  

 

"Great! We can go whenever you're ready." I looked over to Rose, who had just finished placing all the dishes into the washing machine.  

 

"I'm done," she announced, wiping her hands on her jeans. "Ready whenever you are."  

 

Their eyes turned down to me, and I put the lid on the ice cream and grinned, "Let's go!"  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta.
> 
> Please do not copy.


	12. C H A P T E R  T E N

Chapter 11: 

Augusta's POV  

 

Stepping out of the TARDIS unto the silver grass, I looked up at the sky and gasped.  

 

Littering the dark night sky was hundreds of thousands of twinkling lights. Some were dark blue, other purple or pink or yellow or red. Some of them shone brightly and others were dimmed. Some of them were in clusters and others stood alone. Some had a purple hue around them that made it shine even brighter. I couldn't even describe the sight as I stared at it with big round hazel eyes.  

 

"What do ya think?" The Doctor asked, placing a hand on my shoulders.  

 

"I... It's... I..." I took a deep, calming breath. "It's beautiful."  

 

The Doctor grinned, and ran back inside the TARDIS, coming out with a blue blanket. Rose giggled and ran out onto the grass with him. He set the blanket down on the grass and sat on top of it, Rose following him. I sat beside Rose, but on the grass instead, and looked at the beautiful stars in front of me.  

 

I heard the Doctor begin talking about different constellations in the Castiellion galaxy. "What's a con-stall-nation?" I asked, interrupting him.  

 

"Constellation," he corrected, "People called astrologists on earth used to make pictures with the stars. It isn't a very uncommon habit, seeing that most species did it, even the Time Lords. It was a way to provide comfort for the younger ones, and a fun way to learn about the universe."  

 

"Oh... Okay..." I nodded.  

 

"Even some constellations are similar to the ones of earth," he stated. "Like that one," he pointed to a star. "That one is looks like Cancer the Crab. And if you look at that one, it's almost like Orion's belt." 

 

"Who's Orion?" I asked.  

 

"He was a Greek warrior," he explained. "Never liked Orion. He was always so full of himself."  

 

"You've met him?" Rose asked. 

 

"'Course I've met him!" He exclaimed. "He wasn't very self-less, and if it was up to me, he wasn't the handsomest of them all. If anything, Hephaestus was handsomest." 

 

Rose scrunched up her nose. "Isn't Hephaestus the ugly one?" 

 

"No, that's was just a lie spread by Zeus and Apollo. Hephaestus was the handsomest one out of all of them, but since nobody would accept him for it, he was disowned for it," he explained. "Nobody opposed this since Zeus and Hera were the leaders of them all." 

 

"Are you saying you've met the Greek gods?!"  

 

"Yeah, pretty much," he nodded. "Just a bunch of arrogant mind leeches making the human race believing they were being ruled by gods." 

 

I smiled, as I listened quietly to his stories. I looked down, I wish that it could be like this forever. So no one would get hurt. "Hey Auggie look, a shooting star! Make a wish!" 

 

"A shooting star?" I asked, watching the flying piece of light in the air, that left a dusty trail behind it.  

 

"It's just a rock that's crumbling up in the atmosphere," the Doctor explained. 

 

"Then why would you make a wish?" I asked. 

 

"Human custom," he said. "They think that if they wish on a star, their dreams would come true." 

 

"Why? How would it come true?" 

 

"It doesn't actually come true," he said. "It just makes them feel better about themselves."  

 

"Oh... Humans are weird..." Rose laughed and we all looked up at the stars. For at least twenty minutes, we sat there, looking at the stars, a comfortable silence had fallen between us. Suddenly, something grabbed my hand.  

 

I looked down, to see the bright silver grass rooted around it. "Wha--" before I could finish, my hand was dragged into the ground. My eyes widened, "What!?"  

 

Rose and the Doctor turned around as whole arm was sinking in the ground. "Augusta!" The yelled, as my foot was tied and began to fall too. I tried to pull on my arm, but it barely budged. 

 

I clenched my teeth and tried to control the ground around me to loosen. "Move," I commanded and the ground wavered. I began to panic, as the Doctor sonicked the ground, as half my body sank into it.  

 

"Doctor!" I cried, trying to move. 

 

"I know," he replied, pulling on my arm, painfully. 

 

"Doctor!" Rose called, he whipped his head around to see Rose, her arm sinking as well. My eyes widened, and I held my free arm out to her, forcing the ground around her to loosen her grip. I didn't want her dying as well.  

 

Rose pulled against the ground, her arm loosening a small bit. I grimaced, "Let her go!" I yelled at the earth, the forcefulness of my voice made the ground split, and Rose pull her arm out and fall back on the grass.  

 

Just as it did that, my head sank into the ground. I took a deep breath as I submerged into the earth. I heard the muffled voices of the Doctor and Rose calling my name, before everything went black. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

He watched as her petite fingers sank into the earth along with the rest of her body in horror. "She... She saved me," Rose muttered. "Doctor, where did she go?! How do we find her!?" 

 

"I don't know," he said, a angry scowl on his face. "But I bet the natives do." 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

They entered the village seeing young children running around. They had bright pinkish hair and blue skin,that reflected the sunlight brightly. They were playing with a fruit that was native to their land, laughing. Some of them were brushing each others hair, or even weaving baskets  

 

When they saw the duo they stopped what they were doing, and stared at them. "Why did they stop?" Rose asked, him.  

 

Before he could answer, one of the kids came up to him, "Who are you, mister?" He asked. "How did you get here?" 

 

He went into his jacket and pulled out his physic paper. The boy gasped, and ran away, the children followed him. "Uh... What just happened?" Rose asked as he looked at his psychic paper. It had stated that he was a 'High Official'.  

 

He frowned, but walked into the village. There were a few buildings that looked like teepees and longhouses. It almost resembled Native American homes. He found the children again, standing behind adults, who had their arms crossed and eyes set into a hefty glare.  

 

"What are your people doing here?" The one in the center, said. He wore brigher colors and some kind of honorary hat, so he was most likely the leader.  

 

"I'm the Doctor--" 

 

"I know who you are!" The man interrupted. "What is your kind doing here again, I thought we told you that we did not want your help!" 

 

He blinked, "'Help'?"  

 

"Sir, please," Rose spoke up. "Our friend was taken, she just disappeared into the ground. We just want to know if you know anything about it." 

 

The man's face completely changed from anger to pity, then back to anger. "Did you not know that this ground is cursed!?" He exclaimed.  

 

Cursed? "We're... New here," he stated. "We mean no harm to you or your people. We are just asking for information about your... Cursed land, so we could get our friend back." 

 

"You're friend is not coming back," he spat, but soon controlled his anger, and sighed. "You must speak to our leader if you wish to find information." 

 

He was not the leader? "Okay, then," he grinned. "Take us to your leader!" 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

My eyes peeled open, showing the bright lights of the room I was in. I squinted until my eyes adjusted. I heard someone's shoes clanking on the cold flooring. "Ah, it's awake," a man's voice said. I felt a pair of cold fingers touch my chin, lifting my head.  

 

I groaned and forced my eyes open. I saw a man, wearing a white coat, was grinning. He had light pink skin and blue hair. "You may begin," he stated, moving away, and making my head hang limply.  

 

I felt my arms clamped to some type of metal, and spread apart. I looked down to see myself completely naked. My eyes widened and I shot my head up, seeing the man in the white coat holding a shot and a grin plastered on his face.  

 

I opened my mouth to scream, but found myself gagged tightly. My body shook in fear as he got closer, and my breath hitched when he injected the needle into my body. I gave him a muffled scream, that faded when everything went black. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

He and Rose were sitting in a one of the longhouses, in front of a woman. She wore a lot of make up, and wore a dress that was inscribed with writings and designs. Her eyes were gray, just like everyone else's, but they held something of a authority. Her lips pressed in a steady line, and she looked as though she was analyzing them.  

 

Beside her was the man from earlier, who was apparently her advisor and a child. "What do you want?" She asked finally.  

 

"Information. Why are people sinking into the ground?" He replied. "I also wish to save my friend." She looked to the child, who had been studying him, and she nodded. 

 

"Your friend is gone. Along with all the other children who have been taken," she replied.  

 

"'Children'?" He repeated.  

 

She sighed, "There are children disappearing from our village. Just sinking into the ground, much like your friend. We believe it is the doings of the Trixitans but we do not have any evidence. With tensions being as high as they are between our empires, I cannot risk a war sparking."  

 

"Why would they want the children?"  

 

"We are not sure," she sighed. "We believe that they want the children for their abilities to sense the truth, but we are not certain." 

 

"I thought that all ages can 'sense the truth'," Rose spoke up. "Why only take the children?" 

 

"I see you are informed in our abilities," the woman stated, her eyes narrowed. 

 

"Not very much," Rose admitted, sheepishly. She looked back at the child, who had nodded again. So she was using her as a lie detector. That's interesting. 

 

"The children of our village senses are more advanced than the adults since they begin to fade in during their adulthood," the woman explained. "We believe that since their abilities' are so ripe during childhood, they would want it more than the adults', whose abilities are dulled."  

 

He nodded, "But what about them sinking into the ground?" He asked.  

 

"We do not understand that either," the woman admitted. "The technology of the Trixitan empire is so advanced. We wish to stay the way we are, opposed to being like them."  

 

He frowned, if the Trixitans were so technological advanced, then they would be at the disadvantage during war. She was wise to not engage war on them when they first suspected the other empire.  

 

"Queen Geltaina," the man beside her said. "We must confront the Trixitans on this matter in order to save the children." 

 

"No, we shall not," the woman -- Queen -- said. "I do not want war between us."  

 

"And how many lives of innocent children would you sacrifice in order to maintain that," the man hissed, anger and the want for revenge shining in his eyes.  

 

"Hush, Dantattili," she said, raising her voice. "You dare speak in such a tone to your superior!" 

 

The man frowned, narrowing his eyes at his Queen, before standing up, and silently leaving the room. His eyes trailed him, as the man walked away stiffly.  

 

"I apologize for his behavior," she said, with a small sigh. "Dantattili lost his daughter to the cursed grounds. He is hell-bent on waging war on the Trixitans, but I just cannot allow it. I cannot risk the safety of my people over a unevenly matched war." 

 

"What about the children?" He asked. "You're just going to let them keep taking your people?" 

 

"There would be no children to worry about after a war that would exterminate our civilization," she replied. "I have decided that we should grow in power before taking on their empire and returning the children."  

 

He gave her a hard look, "What if they are gone by then? What if they are sold into slavery?" He questioned. "The children are the future to your society. Your next generation. If there is no children then--" 

 

"I know that!" She exclaimed, making him raise an eyebrow. She clenched her fists on the table, her eyes set into a far off glare. "My youngest sister was taken, Doctor," she admitted, her steely eyes full of sadness. "I want to find her, but we have no way to do so. Believe me, I know that if we do not find these children, then it would be the downfall of our society, but we cannot simply wage war on the Trixitans. The bloodshed would be horrific."  

 

He looked at the woman, her eyes willed with so much emotion and stress. It was not hard to tell that she's been through so much, to find her sister. She was conflicted with protecting her people and protecting her family.  

 

He stood up, and she look at him, "Then its settled," be said firmly. "I will help you bring the children back." 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

They had quickly found out that I was not from this world, and found out that I wasn't even exactly human faster.  

 

I had been tied to this table for what seemed like hours. At first, they would put so much chemicals into my system, I couldn't even see straight, but since my body burned through them quickly, they had to use much more than usual. Soon, they decided that they didn't have the supplies to keep me sleeping, so they just stopped giving them to me.  

 

"Do you see this?" One of them said, looking at a paper. "Its system will break down and get rid of chemicals 5x faster than the average human would...!"  

 

"Imagine how much money we'll make off the black market off it!" Another said, feeling my bare body, and sending shivers down my spine. I growled at the man, and he smirked. "Ooo, and it's feisty! I might take it off your hands for a while," he grinned, and I scrunched up my nose in disgust. 

 

He trailed his finger down my cheek, and I snapped my jaw at it, getting scarily close. He frowned, and raised his hand to hit me, but the other man held him back.  

 

"Don't harm the merchandise!" He exclaimed, as the man pulled his arm away. The man narrowed his eyes at me, and I hissed at him, baring my teeth, threateningly.  

 

"Let's just lock it up for now. We can finish examinations tomorrow," the main one said, unclamping me from the metal table. Before I could jump and run away, they had tied my hand behind my back, and hit something on my head to knock me out cold. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

I woke up in a different room, still bare. I groaned and moved off the ground, a heavy headache settling in my head. I felt the chains that strapped my legs and arms together rattle loudly, behind me, as well as a round of hushed whispers.  

 

In the darkness, I saw the silhouette of a few small-ish bodies that I couldn't completely make out in the darkness. I shakily sat up. "Hello there," I greeted, as calmly as I could.  

 

"W-What are you?" One of them asked. It sounded like a child.  

 

"Human," I replied easily. "Ish."  

 

"'Ish'?" Another voice asked, this one sounded like a girl's whereas the first sounded like a small boy's. The pitch of the voice was much higher, so it wasn't hard to distinguish.  

 

"Yeah," I nodded. "I don't know exactly what I am."  

 

"Who are you?" The boyish one asked.  

 

"My name's Augusta, but sometimes people call me Auggie," I replied.  

 

"'A-Auggie'?" The girl asked, hesitantly.  

 

"Yes little one?" 

 

"Are you h-here to save us?"  

 

I smiled, "Who needs saving?"  

 

"We do." 

 

"Who is we?"  

 

There was a short pause. Then, a large group of children, all ranging from 5-10. Some had blue hair and bare pink bodies, while others had pink hair and bare blue bodies, but each one of them had glittering gray eyes that was filled with something that I hadn't seen in a long time. The desperate need of hope. 

 

There had to be at least 30 of 40 of them, at least, maybe even more were hiding in the background or... Dead. In front was the girl from earlier, and the boy, they looked like the oldest, probably 12 or 13.  Then stood the small children, hanging onto their legs, protectively.  

 

"We are," the girl-that-looked-oldest said. "We need saving." 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

He and Rose were standing outside the entrance of the Trixitan city. Two bulky Trixitan guards greeted him. "Who are you? And what is your problem with the Trixitans?" 

 

He flashed his psychic paper at him, and their eyes widened. "Oh, I apologize sir," one said, moving out of the way. "We were not aware of your title, sir." 

 

He nodded to them, grinning at Rose, who merely rolled her eyes. They entered the city, peacefully, but his eyes fractioned at the condition of the city.  

 

There were children lying around, looking half-starved, others sat weakly against the metal walls, staring into space. He even found a few dead bodies, of people who were just lying there to rot. 

 

"Oh my," Rose gasped, looking at everything as he was.  

 

"Overpopulation," he grimaced. "They probably aren't able to feed all these people."  

 

"This is horrible," Rose whispered. "What are we going to do?" 

 

"Nothing," he said. 

 

"Nothing!?" 

 

"For now," he added, before she could protest, he continued. "These people are dying, and we're going to help fix it, although we cannot really have a decisive say on their overall decision. It's their country, their planet. Their problem."  

 

"You can't just leave them," Rose said, shockingly. "I mean, just look!" 

 

"I did just look, Rose," he said, a slight growl in his voice. "I can't save everyone." 

 

"So you just save who you can, and leave the rest? What are they, expendable?!" 

 

He turned around so quick, he would've gotten whiplash, "I did not say that!" He argued. "I didn't say we were just going to leave them! I said we were going to let the leaders give their overall decision."  

 

"Which is?" 

 

He shrugged, "I don't know. Like I said, it's their decision, not the decision that I made them choose." 

 

Rose paused, then sighed, "Fine, I understand."  

 

"You do?" He asked, confused.  

 

"Yeah... You can't save everyone, so you save who you can, and who's left. I-I guess its better than nothing." He watched her for a moment, then nodded.  

 

"Good. Good. You understand. You learn," he nodded approvingly. "Just like you apes, you learn quickly." Before she could respond, they had made it to the gate, where two guards were standing there, just like the outer one.  

 

"Who are you?" One asked, and he showed him his physic paper. Once again, their silver eyes became saucers. "Oh, I'm sorry sir, please continue." He nodded, and he and Rise continued to the other side.  

 

"If you don't mind me asking, sir," one of them said, and he turned around. "What is a high lord like you doing in this area?" 

 

"I just like a change of scenery," he said causally. "Why is this city like this? Why is it in such a state? The Trixitan empire is a strong empire, what happened." 

 

"You don't know?" The first one asked.  

 

"We're not from this area," Rose lied for him.  

 

"It's like this in every area," the other one argued. "This empire is facing its darkest times. The government cannot feed all the people, so they just... Gave up on them. They rose the taxes so they could have more money."  

 

"So you're jus' gonna leave 'em!" Rose exclaimed.  

 

The man held his hands up nervously. "I didn't say I was," he defended himself. "The government is. Trust me. I don't want them to. I used to live on that side, for half my life. It was horrible. Getting the chance to be a guard and move my rank up was amazing. Now I can have the chance to feed my family. It truly is a blessing..." The man trailed off, just as they entered the other side.  

 

He had noticed the wall had been much thick separating the rich from the poor than from the poor and the outside world, but that wasn't the only thing he noticed.  

 

The whole scenery changed. There were more advanced, cleaner, housing with gardens fully equipped with fountains and archways. He saw a park, with a few children scattered here and there, playing around. A large building was in the center of the city, which is he guess was where all the important conversations would take place. 

 

He hurried over to the main building. "This is insane," Rose muttered. "It's like its rainy on one side, sunny on the other!" 

 

"Aristocrats," he said. "They have money and don't worry about the people who don't. Some civilization have their own versions of the French Revolution."  

 

"You mean the one with the rich and the poor," Rose asked, probably recalling her history class on this. "The poor revolted--" 

 

"And both sides lost," he finished. "The unnecessary bloodshed was horrible," he frowned. "You apes were so tied up in trying to desperately get rid of all the rich, that you didn't even realize that you would destroy your own country trying to do so. You even invented a machine to kill them easier and more efficiently."  

 

"Were you there...?" Rose asked. 

 

"Not in this life, but in one of my previous," he replied, as he opened the door to a grand building entrance. There was a woman sitting at a reception-like table.  

 

"Hello, how may I help you?" She asked cheerfully. Her hair was slicked into a tight bun, and she wore a standard white blouse and skirt. A forced, fake smile was plastered unto her face that was caked with make-up.  

 

"We would like to speak with the leader," he said.  

 

"I'm sorry, but Lord Geltalini is all full today with meetings," she said. "The next time he would be open is in..." She checked her small notebook. "Six years!" 

 

"Six years?!?!" Rose exclaimed. "I'm not waitin' six years to talk to whoever's in charge!"  

 

"I apologize ma'am," the woman said meekly. "But that is all we can do. Maybe if the matters were more urgent then--" 

 

"It's alright," he said, making Rose loom at him. 

 

"It is?" 

 

"Yes, we understand, right Rose?" He gave he a forced smile, motioning her to follow his lead.   

 

"Oh, yeah. It's-it's all good," Rose said. "You can't change that, we get it." 

 

"T-thank you for understanding," she said, looking at the holographic screening, a slight blush apparent on her cheeks.  

 

"I do have one question," He said, making the young woman look up at him. "Do you know anything about the children sinking into the ground?" 

 

Her eyes slowly widened, "Wha-What are you talking about?! Children sinking into the ground, that's preposterous! That would never, ever happen in the Inner Layer!" She looked around, as if she was looking out for someone and sighed. "I must get ready for other consumers, so would you please excuse me."  

 

She pushed a button, and a few seconds later, they were surrounded by large, burly blue skinned men and was 'kindly escorted out of the estate'.  

 

Rose huffed at the men when they were kicked out. "What are we going to do now Doctor!?" Rose asked, frustrated.  

 

"Were going to break in," he said, a grin on his face. He watches as a few guards were heading into the building through a side door. "And I've got just the idea." 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

Apparently, these kids had also been taken by the earth and experimented on as well. "But, why send the little one to ask me stuff?" I asked as we sat huddled by the side of the room, as close as we could get.  

 

"They are the youngest," the girl stated. "Their ability to identify truth from lie is the strongest."  

 

"Who are you anyway?" 

 

"I am Dentelani, daughter of the Advisor of the Bellains Village, Dantattili," she introduced herself.  

 

"How did you get here?"  

 

Her eyes hardened, "I was the first to be taken... By my father." 

 

I ruffled my eyebrows, "Wait, what?"  

 

She sighed, "I think it would be better for Freyne to explain," she said, motioning to the boy beside her. He, unlike the girl, had blue skin and pink hair.  

 

"We were taken by a group of people who decided that they were neither Bellain nor Trixitan. They call themselves the Nuetrals," the boy began, as he caressed the hair of the small girl beside him that lied on his lap. "The Neutrals were peaceful people at first, didn't affiliate themselves with government matters. Nobody would bother them, and they wouldn't bother back. Until, they became corrupt.  

 

"It is believed that they stated going 'bad' when Dantattili joined them. He wanted to spark a war between the Bellians and the Trixitans, but the head counsel wouldn't allow it, seeing that they were neutral in all political matters. They stayed this way, until one day, the entire counsel died. Every last member.  

 

"This created a panic between the people. Without a leader, they did not know what to do. Dantattili stepped in charge. He told everyone that if they sparked a war between the two groups, then they could let both races destroy each other, and then they would be the superior race. The people of the village believed his words, and foolishly followed him.  

 

"He decided that it would be best to cleanse them of their filth of just being a Bellian or a Trixitan. He wanted to be both.  

 

"He devised a team of researchers and scholars to study the body of the two races and how they could join them together, but apparently their body types just don't mix. They've created hybrids, failures, experimenting on children in order to make the better, supreme race of Bellixitans!" The boy finished, and my eyes were wide. They were experimenting on children. Just like with them. They wanted to make a more advanced race of humans, just like them. They were killing children to do so. They were evil. 

 

I took a deep breath, "What do we do then?" I asked.  

 

"We escape. We leave. We make sure that war is avoided at all cost," Dentelani said. "And we make sure to destroy this place before we do."  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta.
> 
> Please do not copy.


	13. C H A P T E R  E L E V E N

Chapter 12: 

Doctor's POV  

He had found out that there was a party scheduled for the President of the Empire. Naturally, he decided to attend.  

 

He was sitting down on one of the seats along the wall, drinking a cup of traditional Trixitan drink that was red, almost gooey, with specks of white in it. It was actually rather delicious.  

 

"Would you like another drink?" A forced feminine voice said, beside him. He turned to see Rose, with blue body paint, a pink wig, and a waiters outfit. She held a tray of drinks to him, but didn't look happy at all. Her teeth were gritted, and her eyes narrowed, a scowl apparent on her face. 

 

"Don't mind if I do," he grinned, taking another drink.  

 

She set the tray beside her, "Remind me again why I have to be the maid." 

 

"Most of the gossip is in the back," he told her, sipping his drink. "All you gotta do is listen in. Join in, if you have to. Ask questions, et cetera." 

 

"And what are you going to do?!"  

 

"I'm going to talk to all of the sophisticated people, learn a bit about their side of the story," he explained coolly. "This empire is split up into two parts: The poor and the wealthy. I get wealthy, you get poor. Easy as that."  

 

"I don't recall getting a choice in which social class I interrogated," she huffed.  

 

"'Cos you didn't," he rolled his eyes, and handed her the empty cups. "Find out what you can about the kids sinking into the ground and their opinion on the Bellians. I'll meet you after all this," he told her, and walked away.  

 

After a few minutes of walking and talking around, he finally settled with a duo of woman. "Fantastic party, isn't it," he said, joining into their small group. "Lovely music, don't you think?" 

 

"Yes, it is," the woman number 1 nodded.  

 

"I believe the orestist player could use be a bit higher, and a little more on sync with the others," Woman #2 pointed out. "But otherwise, it is good." 

 

"Do you play an instrument?" He asked.  

 

"Yes, quite a few. I even teach a few classes," Woman #2 replied. "Although, some of them have shrunken..."  

 

"Shrunken? Why is that?" 

 

"The children haven't showed up to classes lately." 

 

"Same with me," the other woman said. "I teach Arithmetic privately, but some of the kids have sudden... Disappeared," she frowned slightly. "It is my the oddest thing. Nevertheless, the parents are devastated." 

 

"What do you think happened to them?" 

 

"Oh there are all kinds of rumors," the woman said. "Some say that they've been kidnapped by the Bellians!" She shook her head, "The barbarians..." 

 

"That's not true," the second woman said. "They are two simple to even get pass the exterior gate, much less kidnap a child." 

 

"Really?" He said, "I heard that they children are sinking right into the ground. What do you think about that?"  

 

Both of the woman's eyes widened, "That's not possible." They both instantly denied.  

 

"It was most likely the Bellains," The second woman said. 

 

"Children don't just sink into the ground," the first lady stated.  

 

"That would never happen in the Inner Layer," the second woman continued. 

 

He narrowed his eyes, their answer was almost identical to the woman's at the main desk. "Okay. I'll have to be going now. It was nice talking to you," before they could reply, he quickly walked away, going to another group of people and interrogating them. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

"So can you help us?" Dentelani asked.  

 

"... I can try," I replied. "Show me your hands."  

 

She brought her arms forward, they were in the same metal chaining as mine, although it only seemed to bond her hands, not chain her arms and legs together, and wrap around her neck like mine did.  

 

"I can get your chains off," I told her, and her eyes fractioned. "It might be hard, but I can try." The bonds were thick, it would be a hassle to undo the intricate locks inside of them.  

 

"Really?!" The girl exclaimed. "How?! Do you have the keys?" 

 

"No," I shook my head. "Look, I need you to get as close to me as you can get." She nodded and scooted over to me. I watched as the other kids leaned in close, curious to see what I was going to do. 

 

Once she was as close as me as she could get, I reached out a hand, and touched her chains. Surprisingly, the locks were simpler than the ones I had, probably because I was different than them. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, and focused on the metal inside unlocking. It would be much harder since I wasn't familiar with this type of metals, but I could still try.  

 

After about five minutes, I heard the locks click and fall off her hands. I exhaled, and put my arm down. It worked! Dentelani gasped and rubbed her sore wrists.  

 

"You did it!" She exclaimed, "You actually did it!" 

 

"Yeah, it's great," I said in-between pants. "Who's next?" 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

He was frustrated. Everyone had said the same answer, "Nothing like that would happen in the Inner Layer," or "It was the work of the Bellians!" Nobody even thought that they were sinking into the ground! It was like they were brainwashed! They wouldn't even acknowledge the fact that these kids were disappearing! 

 

He saw Rose hop over to him in his peripheral vision. "Did you find out anything?" She asked.  

 

"No," he scowled, "They're all saying the same bloody thing! It's like they don't even care that children are missing!" He told her about his useless findings, and she nodded.  

 

"Well, I heard quite a few things," Rose offered. "Apparently, children in the Outer Layer are disappearing too."  

 

"Well, that makes sense," he grumbled, "They wouldn't just take all the fancy, spoiled kids." 

 

"You didn't let me finish," Rose scolded lightly. "They also don't think it was the Bellians who did it." 

 

"Who do they think did it?" He asked, now interested.  

 

"They're is this group of people who supposedly split off from society a while ago, who are both Bellian and the Trixitan. They call themselves the Neutrals. Rumor says that they are takin' the kids so they could start a war!" 

 

He frowned, "'Start a war'? I thought they were supposed to be neutral." 

 

She shrugged, "They don't know why or how, but that's what the rumor is." 

 

He nodded, but why start a war? What would that accomplish? If the war were to start, then Queen Geltaina would be right, the bloodshed would be horrific.  

 

He grimaced at the thought of war. "What do we do now, Doctor?" Rose asked.  

 

"Simple," he grins, "We find the Neutrals." 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

"Are you sure you're okay?" Dentelani asked. Taking apart their chains one by one was taking much more energy than I thought it would, but luckily not too much. I had began to feel lightheaded and only coughed up blood once. At that point, Dentelani insisted that I should stop and rest, but I refused. The Neutrals would be back any minute now, so I needed to get as many as I could undone. I had even kept mines on, since it would take too much energy to take them apart as well. 

 

A little girl, looking at least three or four years old, held out her hands to me. I smiled weakly, and touched her chains, unsnapping them in a matter of minutes. "Who else still has chains?" I called.  

 

"No one," she says. "You got them all."  

 

I grinned, "Great. Now I gotta get the door and then you'll be set." 

 

"No," she says, "We can work it out from here, you just rest." 

 

"No. I need to get you all out as soon as possible. We don't need anyone else--" my words were cut off by the sound of the keys getting shoved into the door. Everyone else heard this and froze. "Go! Go!" I whisper-yelled. Instantly, everyone went to the chains, putting them around their wrist like they were still locked up. 

 

I lied down on the ground, faking like I was asleep, and the door opened. "There it is," I heard a gruff voice say. I felt someone pick my up by my arms, twisting them painfully behind my back. "He says to bring it to Experimentation." 

 

The man dragged my body away, and outside the door. I turned around to see everyone staring at me, worryingly. I smiled comforting at them, but really, I was terrified.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

He had somehow gotten vague directions on how to get to the Neutral's village. It lied about a few miles outside the Trixitan empire, southwest. Luckily, he was able to take the TARDIS instead of walking. 

 

"Do you think Auggie is alright," Rose asked suddenly. Her eyes shined with worry and concern. "I mean, why would they need kids to start a war? What are they doing to her?" 

 

He frowned, he didn't want to worry Rose any more than she already was, but he couldn't say much on it himself. He was intrigued why they would need the children as well. What was the point in it? Why use children when there were be thousands of other ways to do so? Why were the children so important?  

 

"Here we are," he states, and goes to the door, not before pulling going under one of the metal panels and pulling out a small box, containing two small metal circles on a twine, thin rope. He tossed one to Rose.  

 

"What's this?" She asks. 

 

"Put it on," he orders, "It's a perception filter. Makes you invisible, almost," he puts his on as she does. "It makes your eyes look right past you. It'll work as long as you don't say anything and don't draw attention to yourself."  

 

"Got it," she nodded and they walked to the door to save their young friend. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

They were standing in the shadows of a building beside them. It was nighttime, around nine. People were running around, laughing or dancing or singing. They were having some sort of celebration. He noticed that they were not only Bellain or Trixitan, but both. It was a group of pink and blue people, that surprised him in the very least. Both civilizations had despised the other, but this colony decided to join two of them as one.  

 

"Praise Danta! Praise Danta!" They cheered. Rose looked at him, as if to say 'Who's Danta', and he shrugged.  

 

Someone came out of a building, wearing long robes and a colorful hat, and everyone began to cheer louder. He held his hands up and the crowd silenced. "Hello fellow Neutralians!" The man shouts, and his eyes widen, that voice... It's Dantattili!! 

 

He was shocked. Dantattili, the advisor of the Bellians, was leading the Neutrals?! Why?! 

 

"We have made a great discovery," Dantattili continues, as the Doctor leans in. "We have found a rare specimen that is very important to our research!" He claps his hands and two large men bring out a large cage. His eyes widen as he sees that the cage contains a small child, no, wait, it was Augusta! Her body was bare, and covered in small red dots. Blood trailed from her mouth, and her body racked with coughs, making blood splatter everywhere. Her arms were bonded by thick chains on her wrists and ankles, and her face was pale and dirty. 

 

He glanced at Rose, who's hands were over her mouth and tears streaming out her eyes. "As you see, this thing is not Bellian nor Trixitan. It is human! But that's not all, it isn't even fully human! With this, we will spark our revolution, and this thing will be our secret weapon!"  

 

Augusta shifted in the cage, and her eyes looked at the crowd, before settling on the two of them. Her hazel eyes widened and she silently gasped. She had seen them, even with the perception filter on? Was it not high enough? Could Dantattili see him as well?  

 

If he did see them, he did not show it, because he continued, not even batting an eye at the two. "It holds some kind of energy source that we will harness and use for our own! Together, we will destroy the Bellian and the empires and purify both races into our own, Bellixitans!!" The crowd roared with excitement. Bellixitans?! They were combining the Bellians and the Trixitans!? Is that why they needed the children? As test subjects?!?! 

 

"Now, my people, let us feast in celebration for a war is coming upon us. A war that we will certainly win!" The crowd yelled in delight and music began again, and people to dance and eat and play around, oblivious to the fact that children were being tortured because of their doings.  

 

Rose pulled on his sleeve and pointed to Augusta, who was being taken away. They walked over silently along the wall. They brought her behind a door, and they swiftly slipped through behind them.  

 

They led them to a stone, dark stairwell, dragging her down the steps roughly. He winced everytime the cage rattled on the stone steps. He saw her eyes trailing over to him, and he put up a finger to his lips, silently shushing her. If she could see him, he didn't want her making a fuss, and break the perception filter. 

 

"They said to bring it to the experimentation room again," one of the buff men stated to his friend. The other one grunted in response and turned down a silver hallway, into a room labeled 'Experimentation'. He opened the door to show a brightly lit room, filled with racks of chemicals and other supplies. A few people wearing white coats stood in there as well. When they saw them, their eyes lit up.  

 

"Great! You've brought our little subject," one of them said, while the brute unlocked her cage, and pulled her out. She winced in pain as they locked her onto the table. Her mouth was gagged tightly and her head was tied back by a thick leather strap. She looked directly at them, her eyes filled with pain.  

 

He saw Rose move to go help her but he stopped her, they couldn't risk being seen now, not when they had gotten this far and had actually-- 

 

"I'm glad you were able to join us, Doctor," a voice says behind him casually. He whipped his head around to see Dantattili looking directly at them, his arms crossed and a smug smirk on his face. "Do turn off that horrid perception filter, it's rude."  

 

"Dantattili," he growled, taking off his the perception filter. No need in using it now, he had already found them. "Let her go." 

 

"Now, now, we haven't even been able to sit down and have a cup of tea," he clapped his hands and someone brought in a medium sized table, a few chairs, and a pot of tea. Dantattili sat down, and looked at him, motioning for him to join. "Do join me. I would hate for this perfectly good tea to go to waste." 

 

He glared at him, "I'm not going to have a tea party with you." 

 

"We could always serve that thing over there tea as well," he said, motioning to Augusta. "Of course it will have a bit of spice added to it. How does Ratfiliona sound, hm?" His eyes fractioned and he glared harder at him, and took a seat.  

 

"What's that?" Rose asked, sitting beside him.  

 

"A poison," he said through clenched teeth. "It's a native plant on this planet that's incurable. Give you all sorts of hallucinations and disintegrates your insides before you die." 

 

Rose's eyes went wide and she turned to the man, glaring as well. "Listen 'ere you, if you harm one more hair on her head I'll strangle you myself!" 

 

"That won't be necessary," he waved a hand at her, "We've already taken enough DNA samples from its hair." 

 

"What do you want with her?" He glared. 

 

"Isn't it obvious," he rose an eyebrow. "It's interesting. It's different. It's not even human for god's sake! Have you seen its blood cells?" Not even waiting for an answer, he runs over and picks up a few sheets of paper and hands it to him. "Look at this: Its blood cells are much lighter than they should be. At first we thought, it might be a genetic malfunction, but then we touched it, its blood that is. It froze one of our scientist arms! We nearly had to lop it off!" 

 

He glared at him as a gleeful expression shone on the man's face. "Imagine what'll happen if we used it. Harnessed its powers! We could use its powers for the war!" 

 

"She is a living, breathing person!" He retorted, raising his voice. "You're not just going to use her as a weapon!"  

 

He sighed and rubbed his temples, "Listen Doctor, can I call you Doc?"  

 

"No," he deadpanned.  

 

"Doc," he continued, not even acknowledging his opinion. "We're about to go to war. You heard me, right? When I was talking up there? We are going to war, and I don't want my people getting caught in the crossfire. We need a trump card, and here is one, lying in our faces. I'm not gonna just leave it standing around for the enemy to get, Doc." 

 

"Good news then. There's not gonna be a war. We're gonna take her out of here, free all the children you napped and stop the war from happening!" 

 

Dantattili looked at him, as if to be disappointed, "I was afraid you would say that." He stood up, and Rose and him are being held back by the two buff men from earlier. Rose pulls against their grip and help Augusta, with no avail. "Maybe if you were to see the experimentation in action would change your mind?" 

 

He walks over to Augusta, followed by several other scientists, and picks a needle injected with some unknown substance off the medical tray. "This, Doctor, contains the blood cells of a Bellian. I wonder what would happen if we were to give it a bit, hmm?"  

 

His eyes widened, "You can't! Bellian and Trixitan blood can't mix with humans! You'll kill her!!"  

 

"Oh but it isn't exactly human, now is it?" He grinned. "We weren't able to find what else it was mixed with to be a special human, but we shall find out, won't we?" He grinned and walked closer to Augusta, her eyes widening in panic. They were darting back and forth from himself to the needle. Her breathing began sharp and irregular, and she moved and struggled against the metal bonds. 

 

"Do stop moving," he said, pressing the needle against her already-coated-in-blood skin. "It will only make it hurt even worse."  

 

Then it happened. She screamed, even though it was muffled by the gag. The blood inside the needle disappeared and the metal needle turned red and began to melt. Dantattili cursed and dropped the burning needle, cradling his hand to his chest. He watched as the needle melted into a silver puddle.  

 

He turned back to see Augusta, thrashing around on the metal table. The metal bonds were crystallizing and cracked. The scientists were trying to hold her down only to have their limbs set aflame or frozen. The stone grounding cracked dangerously and the room felt gradually drafty. One of the scientists tried to touch her just as her arms broke out and he disintegrated into thin air, leaving only his clothes behind.  

 

The men were rolling on the ground in pain, wailing, or dead. She turned to Dantattili, who was standing beside her, his eyes wide. "Such power," he awes. "Think about what it could do in battle, Doctor! The enemy won't stand a--" he didn't have the chance to finish because Augusta grabbed him by the arm. Ice quickly grew up his body and in mere seconds covered his whole body, turning him completely blue. She blankly stared at the frozen body, and  flicked it with her finger, and the whole thing shattered into pieces.  

 

He was speechless, he had just watched Augusta murder a whole room of people in minutes. He didn't know what to do, or say. He didn't know how she had done it either. It wasn't possible! He didn't understand, he didn't know! He hated not knowing! He wanted answers. 

 

Augusta simply looked at the two guards and they dropped him and Rose and raced out the door. There was a short silence between the three of them, but Rose broke it. "Auggie--" 

 

"There's more kids in the building," she interrupted. "We should go save them."  

 

Before she could walk out the door, he took off his leather jacket and tossed it at her, and she caught it. "There you go. No reason for you to be running around naked." 

 

She looked at him, a small, almost unnoticeable, smile fell on her lips as she put the oversized jacket on. It went down to her knees and fell over her hands, but she pulled it closer and zipped it up. "Thank you..." She murmured and walked down the hall silently. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

I wanted to cry.  

 

I wanted to fall to my knees and cry loudly. 

 

I was terrified of what to do next. The Doctor and Rose had seen me injure/kill at least 10 people in a matter of minutes! They must think I'm a monster now, I thought. I didn't want to show them my powers, I didn't want to show anyone my powers! And I can't deny it, they had both seen me completely demolish that last guy who was talking to them! 

 

I just wanted to curl up in a ball and just bawl my eyes out. I wanted to run away, and never, ever see show my face to them again. I wanted to pull my hair out and just scream.  

 

I took a deep breath, my powers were still acting up. I could smell the Doctor's jacket sizzling a bit. I still hadn't calmed down completely after that. I still had to go save Dentelani and the others. I still had too help them! 

 

We turned down the hallway, and found the door they had left me in. I put my hand over the lock and opened it easily.  

 

I pushed the door open to reveal a room full of kids, sitting against the wall, all naked. "There's so many..." Rose muttered.  

 

"There's more," I told her, remembering the other rooms down the hall that we had past to get to the experimentation room earlier. I heard kids crying in each one, and knew that there were much more than I thought.  

 

"Augusta, is that you?" Dentelani asked, as I walked into the room. She was lurking in the corners, along with the other kids, watching me quietly. 

 

"Yeah," I nodded. "I brought help too. We can leave." 

 

I saw tears grow in her eyes and roll down her face. "Really? We can go?" She asked, walking forward, along with the rest of the crowd of people.  

 

"Yep," I smiled weakly. "Free to go." I moved out of the way and she walks over to the door, everyone else trailing behind her. They walk down the hallway slowly, but they slowly begin running. Racing down the hallway and towards the freedom they definitely deserve.  

 

Once they're out of sight, I walked down the opposite end of the hall and open up one of the other doors. "What are you doing?" Rose asks as I unlock the door.  

 

"There's more," I told her, pushing the door open. "I'm saving them." 

 

I reveal a large room, just like the other one, the kids are huddled against the wall, some are crying, others are sleeping, but then all eyes are on me. I hold my hand out and close my eyes. I didn't have time to go to each and every person individually. I focus on all the metal chains in the room, unlocking. A minute later, the sound of chains unlocking and falling to the ground is echoed throughout the room.  

 

I move out of the way, "You're free," is all I say before people begin getting up and running towards the exit, not waiting for a second chance. As they leave, I stumble to the next door, opening it. 

 

"Are you okay?" The Doctor asks, noticing my sluggish movements.  

 

"I'll... be fine..." I muttered, and pull open the door, raising my hands and unlocking the chains, announcing their freedom, and leave.  

 

My throat begins to sore and I can barely move, I hold unto the wall, and moving against it as I go to the next door. I can barely feel my hand that is trying to go on the handle. Just a few more doors. Just a few.  

 

I finally unlock the door, and slowly push it open. I raise a hand and unlock their chains. "You're... You're free..." I mumble and drag myself to the next one.  

 

"Auggie, you need to rest. You've done enough," the Doctor says. "We can do the rest." 

 

"No," I muttered. "I can still help." 

 

"You're about to drop," he states. "You can barely walk!" 

 

"I'm going to save them," I retorted. "I'm going to save them because... Because no one was there to save me..." My eyes trail to the ground and I take slow steps to the next door. I'm so close. I'm so close. 

 

I have my hand on the handle when suddenly the world blurs and shifts. Darkness creeps at the edge of my vision, and I stumble, almost hitting my head on the door, but the Doctor catches me.  

 

"You need to lie down!" He scolded as I steady myself. "Please, Auggie, you're going to hurt yourself if you don't!" 

 

"... I need to... help them..." I manage to mutter. "I need to... To... To help and... Freedom... I... freedom..." My mind is scrambled at this point. I can barely tell right from left, but I still force the door open.  

 

I stumble into the room, and shakily raise a hand, slowly unlocking their chains. "Y... You're... You're... Fr... Free..." I mumbled and then fell down, everything turning black instantly.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta.
> 
> Please do not copy.


	14. C H A P T E R  T W E L V E

Chapter 13: 

Augusta's POV 

Beep. Beep. Beep, went a mechanical beeping noise that was constant beeping in my ear. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. 

 

What is that...? I wondered, prying my eyes open. I was in a brightly lit room on a white bed. A black figure was lying beside me, snoring. It was the Doctor. His head rested on the side of the bed, his eyes closed and lips slightly parted. Her cheat would rise and fall steadily, in a rhythmic pattern.  

 

I reached out a hand to hesitantly touched his head, but stopped when I noticed that my hands were bare. I didn't want to risk hurting him. I set my hand to the side, and moved over a bit, so that I wasn't touching him.  

 

At this movement, the Doctor's eyes slowly peeled open. And then he looked at me, "... Mm... Auggie's awake..." He mumbled, his voice a bit slurred from sleep.  

 

Then his eyes shot open, realizing his own words. "AUGGIE! YOU'RE AWAKE!!" He got up and hugged me tightly, I stiffed from the sudden contact. "Don't you ever, ever do that again! I'm never going to let you out of my sight! Do you know how worried I was?! God, I thought you died!" He started mumbling all sorts of things, squeezing me tighter.  

 

"I... I can't... Breathe...!" I whispered, trying to push out of his iron grip for air. He was choking me! Why was he choking me!? 

 

He heard me and pulled apart, I gasped for air loudly. I looked at the Doctor with wide eyes, what was wrong with him!? He almost killed me!! 

 

"I'm sorry about that," he apologized, but didn't look sorry at all. In fact, he had a huge grin on his face that didn't seem to be disappearing anytime soon. "It's just... You're alive..." He exhaled. "You're actually, alive. Living and breathing... Sitting here, your small little heart beating happily..."  

 

I gave him a wary look, "Doctor, are you okay...?" I asked, hesitantly. What was he talking about? Of course I'm alive! Why wouldn't I be? 

 

"Do you remember what happened? In the Castiellion galaxy, on Belltrix? With the Bellians and the Trixitans? You--" he was interrupted by someone rattling on the door, and it opening.  

 

"Hey Doctor," Rose's voice said. "I brought some tea if you--" her eyes locked onto me and her tray of tea dropped on the floor, shattering. "Auggie... You're alive...!"  

 

Before I could answer, she raced over and engulfed me in a big, tight hug. "Don't you ever, ever, ever, do that again, you hear?! I swear, if you do something like that again, I'll kill you myself!! You had us all worried! We thought you died! I thought you died!! I'm never, ever, ever letting you out of my sight! EVER." I felt wet drops of water on my back. Was she crying? Why was Rose crying?  

 

When she finally pulled away, she had tears falling out of her eyes, "Are you hurt?!" I exclaimed, panicking. Did I hurt her!? "Why are you crying?!" 

 

She smiled, and I scrunched up my eyebrows. "I don't understand. If you're hurt, then why are you smiling?" I looked over to the Doctor, who was chuckling. "What's so funny? Why are you laughing?! Why are you crying!? I'm confused!"  

 

"I'm not hurt, love," Rose smiled, "I'm just happy that you're alive." 

 

"If you're happy, then why are you crying?" 

 

"These are tears of joy," she explained. "I'm crying because I'm happy." 

 

I gave her a weird look, "You're crying... Because you're happy? I-I don't understand..." I sighed, "Why are you happy that I'm alive? I was already alive." 

 

She looked at the Doctor, who looked at her, and then looked at me. They seemed to be somehow having a silent conversation because their hands were moving and their eyes were wiggling and glaring at each other. I don't understand how they could understand each other like that, but I didn't ask.  

 

Finally, Rose sat at the bottom of my bed, "Auggie, sweetie, we have something to tell you," she said, putting emphasis on the 'we', and looked at the Doctor.  

 

He sighed. "It'll be best if we just start from the beginning..." 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV (Past) 

He caught Augusta, just as she had fallen to the ground. Her face was pale, and her eyes rolled back into her head. He looked at the kids, who stared at him, fearfully. "You can go," he said, and moved out of the way. Just as he did that, they raced towards the door, just like the last few groups of kids had done.  

 

He held Augusta in his arms, bridal style. Blood trailed out of her mouth, and she seemed to be coughing subconsciously every now and then that would stain his leather jacket that he lent her. "We need to go," he told Rose and rushed out the room.  

 

They ran down the halls, Augusta's limp body bouncing in his arms with every step. When he finally made it to the end, he saw a horde of kids being blocked at the entrance by a few guards.  

 

"You aren't leaving!" One of them shouted, pushing a kid to the ground, again. "Get back to your cages!!"  

 

"Let us through," he told them, pushing through the crowd of kids. He gave Augusta to Rose and stood before the guards. There were three of them, two of them were from earlier that had carried Augusta to the experimenting room.  

 

"Listen here," he growled, "I am angry. Very, very angry. I want these kids out of this compound immediately."  

 

"And who do you think you--" he was cut off by one of the men tapping him on the arm. He whispered something into his ear along the lines of 'alien killed' and 'Dantattili'. After a while, he sighed and moved out of the way. "Fine. Just keep that thing," he pointed to Augusta, "Away from me." 

 

They three of them moved out of the way, and the kids ran through. Rose stayed behind, glaring at the two guards. "Just so you know, she's not a thing. She is a living, breathing, human, you hear?!" The men nodded feebly, and Rose walked away firmly. He smirked and followed her down the hall and out the underground area. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

"After that, we went to Bellians and the Trixitans, explaining that the Neutrals were the one kidnapping the kids. The entire community was shut down, and the rest of the scientist were arrested, along with anyone else who helped,"  the Doctor said. "We also got them to talk to each other, and was able to get them to create a peace treaty between each other. They decided to combine races, despite their racial differences. Everything turned out fine in the end." 

 

"And all the kids... Were they able to go to their families?" I asked, hesitantly. 

 

"Most of them were," he nodded. 

 

"'Most'?" 

 

He sighed, "There were some who had died down there," my face fell, and I clenched the bed sheets. "But that doesn't count. What counts is that you're safe and alive." 

 

"I never died," I argued. 

 

Rose and the Doctor exchanged looks, "Auggie... You were asleep for two weeks," Rose said slowly. "You lost so much blood... A few days ago, your heart just... Stopped." 

 

I blinked, "Sorry, what?" 

 

"Your heart stopped," the Doctor said, his voice low. "Five minutes, 45.528 seconds, your heart stopped. You flat-lined. We thought you died."  

 

My eyes fractioned, I died? I actually died!? I... I don't know what to say. What do I say? Is that why they were so worried, because I almost died? "Oh..." was my dumb answer.  

 

"But you're fine now, and that's what matters," he said, interrupting my moment of shock. "What I want to know is how you set those men on fire and then you froze Dantattili."  

 

I stiffened, "I don't know what you're talking about," I said, almost robotically. Shit, they found out, and they wanted answers! I'm so stupid, I used my powers in front of them! Now they're going to hate me and think that I'm a monster!  

 

"What d'you mean, you don't know," Rose frowned, "We saw you. How'd you do that?"  

 

"I don't know what you're talking about," I repeated, not even bringing myself to look at them. I'm a monster, I can't believe I let them see. I'm a monster, now they're going to make me leave. I'm a monster, they hate me now. 

 

"Auggie, don't burn the blankets," the Doctor's voice said, snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked down to see the blankets steaming and slowly burning at the touch of my fingers. I jumped and let go instantly. Looking at the sheets, to the Doctor and Rose, and then back at the sheets.  

 

"My gloves. I need my gloves," I said frantically, looking around, but the gloves were nowhere to be seen.  

 

"What about when you almost froze Rose to death?" The Doctor demanded, "Or when you woke up, and there's ashes covering your bed? Auggie, please, we just want to help you. There's no reason to be scared." 

 

I looked at the Doctor, my eyes pleading, "Please. I don't want to talk about it," I begged. "Don't make me tell you." 

 

"We need to know, Auggie. And we won't think any less of you if you tell us," Rose said, her tone gentle and comforting.  

 

"I don't want to tell you..." I murmured, trying to calm my racing heart. I didn't want to tell them. Not now, not ever. I wanted them to think I wasn't a monster, and if I told them, then they would think that I was.  

 

"Auggie, we're not keeping secrets from you," the Doctor said, "So why keep secrets from us?"  

 

I didn't answer, I just kept my eyes that burned with tears on the bed. I had to bit my lip to keep it from quivering. I don't want to tell them. I never want to tell them. 

 

"Auggie, please," Rose begged. "We'll still love you if you tell us." 

 

"... I don't want you to think I'm a monster..." My voice was small, almost inaudible, and tears fell from my eyes. "Please. I don't want to tell you." 

 

The look of pain and sadness was evident on my face. I was scared. I was scared of them knowing, of them disowning me because of it. I was scared that they would hate me if I told them. And I was terrified that they would hurt me if I told them. 

 

The Doctor sighed, "Fine. We won't ask, for now," he finally said. "But I want answers later." I gave him a small nod, that was fine with me. "Now," he stood up, "You've been sleeping for two weeks, three days, eight hours, and 38 minutes. Let's go get you something to eat!" He grinned, and I gave him a small smile in return, wiping away the tears in my eyes. "How do chips sound?" 

 

"What are 'chips'?" I asked, knowing from past experiences that if I asked, I would be able to try them.  

 

Rose grinned, "We should go out and buy some! I know a great place that sold the best chips in all of London!"  

 

"Then what are we waiting for," the Doctor grinned, and helped me out of bed. "You go get Auggie dressed, I'll go park the TARDIS!" With that, he hurried out of the room, leaving me with the blonde. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

Augusta was keeping secrets and he wanted to know what they were.  

 

He knew that it was best to leave it as it was right now, so that she knew that they knew something was up, but he would need to know what was wrong with her eventually. He wondered if she was keeping secrets because she was being threatened?  

 

Her words rang in his ears, "Please... I don't want you to think I'm a monster..." She had said. Think she was a monster? He would never think of her like that.   

 

He frowned to himself, would he? Augusta seemed pretty hell-bent on keeping this secret, a secret, and would probably take it to her grave(Which, in all seriousness, almost did). If this 'secret' has something to do with her freezing Dantattili to death or disinteresting someone with a simple touch, or even admitting that she had killed hundreds of people, would he think of her as a monster?  

 

No, he frowned, he would never. Augusta was Augusta, and no matter what, she was a just a kid, a child even. If she had been responsible for some else's death, then he would forgive her... Right?  

 

He was being a hypocrite. He thought of all those people he's met who's been responsible for hundreds of deaths, like Dantattili! He had killed almost fifty children on the experimentation table, and had kidnapped hundreds for experimenting, including Augusta, and he would never forgive him. But was he different than Augusta?  

 

Yes! He told himself, he had children killed so that a war would happen! That's not right, nor was it justified. He deserved to die for that!  

 

He frowned at his thoughts, but Augusta killed him, that was different. Auggie, his Auggie, killed him, easily. He sighed and ran a hand down his face, he didn't want to admit it, but after what he had seen, Auggie could be dangerous, very dangerous, and he didn't even know the extent of it. She was like a ticking time-bomb waiting to go off at any second.  

 

But the question is, does that mean she's a monster? She had killed those men in self-defense, right? She was trying to help herself, right? And when she had said that she had killed hundreds, she was probably exaggerating. Or maybe it was just and accident, Augusta would never kill someone in cold blood... 

 

Right? 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

Rose helped me get dressed into a red shirt, jeans, and a black cozy jacket. I also wore black shoes, that apparently helped you when you were running, an new pair of black gloves, and my braids were put into a ponytail.  

 

As we walked down the hall back to the console room, Rose's skin brushed against mines, and I flinched. It was so... Quiet when I was getting dressed. We hadn't even said  anything to each other. She already hates me for being a monster, I know it. Maybe they'll just drop me off in London for someone else to find me. Or maybe give me to them.  

 

I frowned at my thoughts, they already said that they weren't with them, so why am I still thinking that? Maybe they lied...? Maybe they always hated me and was just faking it the whole time? I don't know anymore. I don't know if they are with them, I don't know if I could still trust them. Hell, I don't even know why they would still want ne around even after they saw I was a monster!  

 

I'm so confused, I didn't know that if they found out, all this would happen. I didn't even want them to find out. Maybe I should just leave. When we get to London, I'll just go, and hide somewhere else. That way, they wouldn't have to deal with me, and find out even more.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

We made it to the console room, the Doctor leaning against the console and grinning. "I like your outfit, Auggie," he complimented.  

 

I blinked, I hadn't expected him to say something like that. "Uh... Thank you...?"  

 

He chuckled at my awkwardness and messed up my hair. "I already parked the TARDIS in London, 2005. We can go to that chips place you wanted to go to."  

 

Rose nodded and bounded over to the door, opening it up easily and showing the alley that we had appeared in last time. Rose skipped out, "I'm gonna go say hi to my mum, okay?" Before he could reply, she left me with him, racing around the corner.  

 

"... Maybe I should go with her..." I started to say, but noticed the hard look the Doctor was giving me. I practically shriveled under his gaze. "What?" 

 

"Why are you keeping secrets," the Doctor suddenly asked. "Why won't you tell us when something is wrong?" 

 

"I just can't, Doctor," I insisted. "I can't tell you." 

 

"Why not!?" 

 

I glared at him, "Why do you need to know?!" 

 

"Because you're keeping secrets, and I want to know," he retorted.  

 

"You don't need to know. It will be fine if you just never knew," I looked away, not daring to make eye contact with those blue, soul-searching eyes.  

 

"Augusta, do you know how worried I was when you were asleep?" He asked. "Do you know how devastated I was when you nearly died?! I want to help you, please, just tell me what's going on!" 

 

"No!" I shouted, "I'm not going to tell you! If I do, then you'll never talk to me again. You'll think I'm a monster, and... I don't want you to think that." I glared up at him, his angry, striking blue eyes made my hazel eyes soften and tears fill them. My stomach twisted painfully, for some reason, and my hands began to shake. I was scared. Was I scared of him. Why was I scared of him?  

 

At that moment, something made my body move, and run away from the TARDIS, and I couldn't stop it. Hot tears fell down my cheeks, and I heard the Doctor call my name after me.  

 

I ran into a crowd of people, disappearing from his sight, but I kept pushing through, running as fast as I could, pushing my weak knees to go faster and forcing my lightheadedness to disappear. 

 

I don't want to go back, they were better off without me, I told myself. If I left, then I wouldn't, I couldn't, hurt them. I wasn't even supposed to be there anyway, I wasn't even supposed to be here, in London, anyway! I want to go back to my world! I don't care where, I just don't want to be here anymore!  

 

I wiped the tears from my eyes that made my vision blurry, why did I have to meet the Doctor? Why did I have to go touch that stupid, goddamn light?! This is all my fault! I should've just walked past it, and I would've been fine. Its not my job to decide what happens when and where, its not my job to make sure everyone lives!  

 

I finally came to a halt, leaning against a building, panting. I haven't been accustomed to running since I was sleeping for two weeks. My body was weak and my throat dry. My hands gripped the brick wall, and I saw ice climb up it intricately. I gasped, and let go, looking down to see that I had also left smoking, scorned, footsteps on the concrete.  

 

I held my hand to my chest and cursed. I began to run again, this time much slower than before. If the Doctor found the tracks, then he would follow me. I needed to make sure that the Doctor and Rose wouldn't follow me anymore. They had a life with each other, I wasn't supposed to be in it. I was a mistake and if I left, and they forgot about me, then I would be fine.  

 

I suddenly bumped into something, making me stumble back, "Oh, I'm sorry love, are you alright," a familiar voice said. I looked up to see Jackie, who had been holding a few plastic bags in her hands, looking at me.  

 

"Oh! You're that girl, what was your name..." She racked her mind for a few seconds trying to remember. "Auria, August... Augusta!" She snapped her fingers, "Augusta! What are you doing here? Are you alright?"  

 

"I--" I started to say, but she gasped. 

 

"You're crying!" She exclaimed, "What's wrong? What did that mean ol' Doctor do to you? If he did anything, I'll set 'im straight for ya!"  

 

I blinked, what? "Um... Yeah. I'm fine, it's just... There's been this whole..." I struggled for the words, "Thing... Going on and now the Doctor and Rose might hate me..." My voice got smaller with every word, and I looked down. "But it's fine though, because I'm just going to leave. That way the Doctor and Rose can be happy with themselves." I smiled at her, but my eyes didn't seem to feel happy at all. Why was I so sad? Why was I scared? I'm making the Doctor and Rose happy, so why can't I feel happy? What's going on, I don't understand. I can't smile right. Is my smile... Broken?  

 

"Rose? My Rose?" She scoffed, "Rose wouldn't even hurt a fly! And she practically thinks you're her kid sister, she couldn't hate you if she tried."  

 

I ruffled my eyebrows, "'Kid sister'? What's a kid sister?" 

 

"Ya know, your kid sister. Your sister, that's a kid," I was still confused, and she sighed. "Your... -- What do they call it in America --... Your little sister. Your sibling. She thinks of you as family, and you can't hate your family." 

 

'Little sister'? 'Sibling'? 'Family'?! I've heard these words, but never actually thought of Rose as one. I don't understand, why would Rose be my sister? What does sister even mean? I never had a sister before. I don't know how to be this... 'sister'.  

 

"What do you mean by 'sister'?" I asked the grown woman. "What do sisters do?" 

 

Jackie laughed and began to walk, and I followed her by her side. "It depends on who you're talking about, love. I have a mate, Glenda her name is, she had five sisters!"  

 

My eyes widened, "You can have more than one sister?!" The thought of having five Rose's made me shudder.  

 

"Course ya can," she grinned, "But sometimes they aren't the nicest to each other if they have more. Even if you have one sister, you can still have arguments. She used to tell me that her sister would take her stuff all the time! It would drive her insane!" I rose an eyebrow, her friend was crazy?  

 

"Anyways, when they were older, they began to love on each other and put those petty fights behind them," she explained. "They grew up. Yeah, they still have arguments and fights, but they also learned to enjoy one another and be happy instead of fight. You see what I'm trying to tell ya?" 

 

"No..."  

 

She laughed, "What I'm saying is that, you should listen to Rose and the Doctor, even if I don't like that bloke. Yeah, you're gonna have fights and arguments, but it'll all clear up eventually, and then you can be happy." She winked at me, and I stared at her. Why didn't she just say that? 

 

"But... This thing... Its something that I can do and they can't; nobody else can," I said. "It's really dangerous too, but if I tell them, then they might get hurt. I don't want to hurt them, so I don't tell them. But if I don't, then they get mad, and I don't want them to be mad. I don't know what to do." 

 

"Well why don't you show me, and I can help," she suggested and my eyes widened.  

 

"I can't! If I hurt you, then Rose will hate me!" I exclaimed. "And then, you might tell them, and I would get in trouble." 

 

"Then how about this," she crouched down to my level, which wasn't that far. "You show me this thing, and I'll help you. I can tell you what you should do, and I pinky promise I won't tell Rose or the Doctor not a single thing." 

 

"What's a 'pink promise'?" I asked.  

 

"Pinky promise," she corrected, "How d'ya not know what a pinky promise is?" When I didn't answer, she sighed and set down one of her bags. She held out her finger to me.  

 

Me, not knowing what to do with her finger, I grabbed it, wiggling it a bit. Jackie laughed, "Like this," she took my finger wrapping it around hers, and shaking both our arms. "See! Pinky promise!" She let go, and I looked at her, carefully, so she shook my finger, okay, what does that mean? How is that a promise? 

 

"Since I 'promised' you, I can't tell anyone," she explains, picking her bags back up and walking again.  

 

"Then why did you need my pinky?" 

 

"That's what you do when you promise," she says.  

 

"I... Don't understand..." She laughed. 

 

"Forget about it. I promise to never tell anyone about your thing that only you can do. Now can you show me?" 

 

I looked at her for a second, but gave her a small nod. It was Jackie, she wouldn't tell anyone, I guess. And, for some reason, whenever I talked to her, I felt this weird feeling in my chest that made me... Want to trust her. I don't know why, but it did, so I did. I moved closer to the side, so no one could see, and made a small flame in my hands. It was a bright orange-ish yellow with flecks of blue and white near the center. Since it was small, it was easier to control, but I couldn't do it for long.  

 

Jackie looked down and gasped, "Dear god!" 

 

At the reaction, I dropped the flame, and looked away. Was she mad? Would she tell the others? Would she hate me too? "Can I see again?" She asked, "That was beautiful." 

 

I looked at her, my eyes as wide as saucers, beautiful? She thought it was beautiful? Why... How... She... She thought that this curse... Was beautiful...?  

 

I took a deep breath, and created it again, and she stared at it in awe, "That's amazing. How are you able to do this...?" She reached out a hand to touch it, but I made it disappear.  

 

"Don't touch it," I warned, "Fire hurts people like you." 

 

She frowned, "What about you?" 

 

"I can't get burnt," I explain.  

 

She nods, seemingly understanding this, "I'm sure that if you showed them, then they'd understand." 

 

"But then they might get hurt," I argued, as she walked up a flight of steps, and I followed her. "I don't want them to get hurt. Or maybe they'll hate me because of it..." 

 

She messed up my hair, just like Rose and the Doctor does, "If they love you, then they'll accept you as you are, sweetheart." She puts a key into the door, and opens it. 

 

We walked down the short hall. I could hear the Doctor's and Rose's conversation. "Do you think my mum saw her on her way here?" Rose asked, as we we entered the room. 

 

"London's a big city, it's be like finding a needle in a haystack. I don't think she would've seen-- AUGGIE!" He shouted. A second later, I was engulfed in a large hug. He picked me up, lifting my feet far off the ground, and spun me around.  

 

"AHAAH!" I screamed, dizzily. Why was he spinning me?!  

 

He finally stopped, and set me down, "I'm so sorry," he apologized. "I shouldn't have made you do anything, you can tell us whenever you feel ready. Don't ever run off like that again! I meant it when I said I was never going to let you out of my sight!!"  

 

Before I could even respond, I was in Rose's chest, squeezed tightly, "I was so worried," she cried. "Don't ever do that, ever again! Can we ground her? You're so grounded!" I rose an eyebrow, 'grounded'? I was already on the ground... She sounded angry, so was grounded a bad thing? 

 

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself," Rose demanded. She had her arms crossed and was tapping a foot impatiently. She was just like the Doctor, happy one minute, sad the next.  

 

"What's a grounded?" I asked, she rolled her eyes, messing up my hair. 

 

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that you're not hurt," she turned to her mom. "Thanks for bringing her back, Mum." 

 

"Well I wasn't gonna leave her," Jackie scoffs. "You should really keep a better eye on 'er, and don't be pick on 'er too!" At this, she smacked the Doctor's arm, who looked at Jackie offensively, rubbing his arm. 

 

"I said sorry," he muttered, and turns to me. "So Auggie, you still up for chips?" I nodded, softly, and the Doctor grinned. "Fantastic, lets go!" 

 

He grabbed Rose's hand, and mines, although I quickly released myself, and ran out the door. Before we left, I shot Jackie a thankful glance, and she winked at me.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

"Here we are," Rose announces, throwing her hands up to show a large, color sign with unknown words on it, that was under a multi-colored red stand. The stand smelt weird, but I couldn't describe it. It didn't smell good, that's for sure, and it messed with my nose. 

 

"What's it say," I asked the Doctor.  

 

"Why don't you try and read it," he grins slyly at me and pats my back. I look at the sign, a bit shyly. I see a 'f', 'i', 's', and 'h'. I've never seen the next letter, so I assumed that the Doctor hasn't shown me it yet. The last letters are 's', 't', 'u', and two 'f's.  

 

I rack my brain for the sounds that they make too, "Um... The first one says fi... Fish... I don't know what that next sign to it is... And the last one says... St... Stu... Stu... Ff?" The Doctor cheered loudly, as did Rose, and grinned. 

 

"Yay! You did it!" Rose cheered.  

 

"I did," I asked, I thought that I would get it completely wrong...  

 

"Yeah, you did, silly," Rose gave me a lopsided grin, and messes up my hair, "That's my girl." 

 

The Doctor grins as well, "As a reward for reading the sign of the shop," he steps in front of me and bows. "We shall go and eat!" He runs over, and I follow him. 

 

"Two large chips and one small, please," Rose said, to the gray, bearded man. I saw him take a scoop, and dip it into something that sounded bubbly and smelled like it was burning. He dumped large yellow sticks into the three containers and handed them to us.  

 

"£18.75," the man grumbles, handing Rose the food. Rose reaches into her pocket, but the Doctor hands him a sheet of greenish paper instead.  

 

"Thanks," Rose says, as the Doctor handed her one of the bigger container of yellow sticks, and giving me the smaller one.  

 

"Don't mention it," he replied, shoving a few of the sticks in his mouth. 

 

I go to taste one of the yellow stick, and nibble on the end. It tastes... Weird. It's crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Its also a bit whitish on the inside as well. "What do you think?" Rose asked.  

 

"It tastes weird," I admit. There's some kind of greasy shielding around the stick, that doesn't taste very well, since I licked it.  Super small little bumps cover it, I bring it up to my eyes, to see it. I frowned, what was that? 

 

"Try it," th Doctor encourages again. I sigh, and reluctantly put the stick in my mouth.  

 

It tasted very odd, and I wasn't able to actually taste it for very long since my tongue burnt it. But I was able to taste some kind of... I don't know what to call it. But it made me squeeze my eyes shut and gag.  

 

"What's wrong?" Rose laughed, seeing the odd expression on my face.  

 

It was sticking to my teeth, and I tried to use my tongue to get it off, but it wasn't working. "Why does it taste so... Weird?" I managed to ask. 

 

The Doctor laughed, "What do you think it tastes like?" 

 

I shrugged, and gave a small cough, burning a bit of whatever was stuck on my teeth. "I don't know. It just tasted... I don't know. I just..." My face was filled with confusion. What did it taste like? "Almost like... Green?"  

 

Rose bursts out laughing and the Doctor chuckled. "You mean sour," he clarified.  

 

"'Sour'?"  

 

"Yep. It tastes weird, doesn't it? A bit hot and it makes you scrunch up his face like this?" He squeezes his eyes shut and stuck out his tongue for a few seconds. "That's what humans do when they taste something sour." 

 

I nodded, half understanding. My eyes trailed to the giant white wheel-like structure with little balls on it behind them. I could see people inside the balls, waving or laughing or talking to someone else. "Hey, Doctor, what's that?" I asked, pointing to it.  

 

Rose looked to where I was pointing, "That's the London eye," she grinned, and looked at the Doctor. "Hey Doctor, how 'bout we go explore London, eh?"  

 

He looked at her, "Really?"  

 

She nodded, "There's no time like the present! And we've got a little American here who would also probably be interested!"  

 

He looked at me, with a rose eyebrow, and I looked at him, a small smile on my face. "Fine. If you want to," he agreed, and Rose punched the air.  

 

"Yeah! C'mon Auggie, let's go!" She pulled my arm and ran towards the giant wheel. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

"It's called a Ferris wheel," the Doctor informed as we entered the small ball attached to the large wheel. They had already paid for us to go on. The Doctor and Rose talked amongst themselves while I examined the structure, as we entered the ball. 

 

The balls were small also, and had glass in the front, so you could see out of. There were a few benches inside the ball so you could sit on. Near the window, there was a metal stand that had small eye holes in it, and a small slot that said £0.50.  

 

Suddenly, a large crank was heard, and the ball began to move. My eyes widened, and I went to go sit beside the bench, holding on tightly. I could feel the ball lifting off the ground, giving me a sense of lightheadedness. I heard every single click and twist of the metal cranks that made the ball move.  

 

"Are you okay?" The Doctor asked, seeing my distress.  

 

I gave him a short nod, about to answer when I saw a strange man in the corner of the room, staring at me. I narrowed my eyes. He wore a black coat and hat, a mask that went up to his nose, and black shoes and pants. I noticed a small bulge in his pocket, that was in the shape of a-- 

 

"Are you okay, Auggie?" The Doctor asked, snapping my gaze away from the man. I looked at him and blinked.  

 

"Yeah. I'm okay. I'm okay," I nodded, my eyes trailing back, he was still there, but now he was glaring at me. 

 

The Doctor didn't look like he believed me, because he took me by the hand and brought me over to the other end where the window was. 

 

I suddenly realized how high up we were, every thing was so small, the cars looked like... Those toy cars in the movie we saw. The people looked as small as bugs, that were scrambling about. The buildings were huge, still, since we were kind of on eye level to them, but they too were growing smaller as well.  

 

I awed at the sight, it was... Interesting! The river beside the Ferris wheel was glistening brightly in the daylight as ships and boats went through it. There was the large clock again, that suddenly chimed loudly, echoing through the air. I winced, and clamped my hands over my ears. It was really loud.  

 

"What's wrong, Auggie?" Rose asked, worryingly. 

 

"The clock thing. Its just loud," I said, as the chiming soon finished.   

 

"Twelve chimes. It's noon," the Doctor said.  

 

"How do you know?" I asked, curiously.  

 

"It says it on Big Ben," he answered. "And when the clock chimes, you have to count the number of chimes it does to tell the hour."  

 

I nodded, "Who's Big Ben?"  

 

"Big Ben isn't a actual person," he laughed, "That's just the nickname for the clock." 

 

"A nickname is a name for someone who you love, right?" He nodded, yes. "So... You love the clock? I thought you could only give nicknames to people." 

 

Rose bursts out laughing at my question and the Doctor's ears turned a bit red. "How are you doing that?" I asked. 

 

"Doing what?" 

 

"Your ears. They're red," I pointed to his tinted red ears. "How are you doing that? Can I do that too?" Rose laughed even harder, hugging her stomach as she once did when we had rice-- ice cream for the first time.  

 

"No, uh, Big Ben is the nickname that everyone calls it..." He answered.  

 

"So everyone loves the clock?" 

 

"No, well, I can't really say," he rubbed his neck a bit. "How about you look at the binoculars?" He motioned to the metal stand, changing the subject.  

 

Before I could answer, the Doctor placed two coins in the slot, "Go on. Have a look," he grins.  

 

I smiled and glancing at the man in the corner. I noticed that he had came a few paces closer to Rose, who didn't seem to notice. If I turned my back and look into the 'binoculars', whatever that is, I wouldn't be able to keep an eye on him, whoever he was, but I also didn't want to alarm the Doctor or Rose by announcing his presence. 

 

I shake my head, "I'm fine," I replied, politely rejecting the offer. "I can see perfectly fine here." 

 

"Are you sure you don't want a closer look?" The Doctor asked.  

 

"Yep," I nodded. I walked back over to the bench, a few steps behind Rose, and sat down. I saw the man back up as well, and stand near me.  

 

"What do you want?" I asked, my voice low, almost unable to hear. He doesn't answer. "If you're thinking of doing anything to then I will--" 

 

"The phoenix is rising," he said, and I stiffened. "Soon, it will be caught again and get sent back into its chains." 

 

"What are you talking about?!" I hissed. I took this chance to quickly analyze him. He had dark yellow eyes and a strand of white hair was revealed under his hood. He didn't smell like Rose, who smelled like a human, he smelled different, but I couldn't place it. I noticed that he definitely had more than one weapon on his person. There were a few more hidden pockets that held a knife or two, and a few smaller guns. If I were to take him on, I would most likely lose.  

 

"They knows your location and will soon be taking you again," he says.  

 

"I'm not going back." 

 

"We have new allies, you have no choice. Rejoin soon or suffer the consequences." I saw him look at the Doctor and Rose, and my eyes narrowed. 

 

I glared at the unnamed man, "Nobody touches them. Leave them out of this."  

 

"Auggie," the Doctor's voice called, making me snap my gaze away. He is staring at me, a bit worryingly. "Are you okay? Who are you talking to?" 

 

"What? I'm fine. I wasn't talking to anyone," I answer, a bit too quickly. I notice that we are nearer to the ground.  

 

He frowns at me, but doesn't say anything else about it. "Why can't they see you?" I asked, this time much quieter. 

 

"We all got our own little abilities from them," he says, a bit smugly. "I myself can make myself invisible from the naked eye for period of time." 

 

"Then how can I see you?" 

 

"Your senses are much higher than the human's and probably even the Time Lord's," he replies coolly. "You won't be able to hide from them for long. Soon you will be joining us when we are at our greatest. Our allies have seen the future and foretold this." The sound of a short 'ding' is echoed in the room, and the man stood up.  

 

"C'mon Auggie, Doctor says we can go to this cool planet with grounds like trampolines!" Rose called, as she walked out the door.  

 

"Okay, I'm coming!" I called back, then looked back at the man. "I'm never going to go back, and nothing you do can change that," I told him. "I'm going to keep my friends safe, and I'll make sure you never, ever hurt them." 

 

He rose an eyebrow and pulled up his sleeve, revealing a large watch-like thing with two triangles facing each other on it. "I'm not a monster that will always put them in danger," he said, and slammed his hand on the watch, and flashed away.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta.
> 
> Please do not copy.


	15. C H A P T E R  T H I R T E E N

Chapter 14: 

Augusta's POV 

A week had gone and past, the Doctor, Rose, and I went on a bunch of little places. We tried new foods -- not all of them good, just so you know --, we played, we dreamed, we talked, we ran. It was fun.  

 

Except during that week, I was on edge, and I think they noticed. Ever since that guy from them showed up, my mind has been filled with thoughts and anxiety. He had the ability to hide himself from other people, which meant the Doctor and Rose couldn't see him. If I told them about the man, then they would think that I was crazy, so I kept it to myself. Not to mention that if I did, then they could be in more danger than I imagined.  

 

Because of this, I never felt safe, not even on the TARDIS. I was on high alert. I would react to the tiniest of touches, and always watch the shadows for even the smallest of changes. I remembered his words, "I'm not a monster that will always put them in danger." He said that he knew someone that could tell the future. In the future, would I hurt the Doctor and Rose? This was the major question that filled my mind. It always brought me back to the dream that I had, when I killed Rose. Was that only just a dream? What about that painting? 'The Dead, Bad Wolf, the Monster, and the Last'? What does that even mean?! 

 

Either way, I didn't want the Doctor and Rose to get hurt. So that meant no more touching. Whenever the Doctor would hold my hand, I would pull it back. If he wanted to hug me, I would stop him. Even if we accidentally brushed against each other, I would move away. This went for Rose as well. I couldn't risk having them getting hurt over me.  

 

I think the Doctor soon noticed that I was distancing myself from them, because he seemed... Different. He wouldn't look me in the eye, he didn't grin as much, and when he did, it didn't look like it was real. I didn't know what to do, I think that I broke him, and I don't know how. I didn't know if he was mad at me, or... Or just sad.  

 

Even still, I stayed away. I kept more to myself, I didn't et as much because it might've been poisoned. I stayed near the Doctor, didn't wander off as much, and, most of all, I didn't use my powers. 

 

So far, we haven't been to see Rose's dad, and I forgot to ask Rose about it, but it seems that I would t have to because Rose already was. 

 

We were in the console room, the Doctor was sitting back in one of the chairs. I was near the console, listening to the soft humming of the TARDIS and Rose talk about her dead father. "That's what mum always says," she said, "So, I was thinking... could we? Could we go and see my dad when he was still alive?" 

 

"Where's this come from, all of a sudden?" The Doctor asked. 

 

"All right then, if we can't, if it goes against the laws of times or something, then never mind, we'll just leave it," Rose added, but the Doctor shook his head.  

 

"No, I can do anything," he stated. "I'm just more worried about you." 

 

Rose looked down, sadly, "I wanna see him."  

 

"Your wish is my command," the Doctor said, going over to the console. "But be careful what you wish for." 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

We were sitting in the back of what the Doctor called a 'Church'. Apparently, Jackie and Rose's dad were getting married. I didn't know what that meant exactly, but I didn't ask. Jackie was wearing a big long white dress, with a weird headpiece, so I couldn't see her face. Rose's dad wore a black and white suit, and he seemed to be nervous, because his hands were trembling ever-so-slightly. 

 

I shifted in my seat as the guy in white robes said, "I, Peter Alan Tyler, take you, Jacqueline, Angela, Suzette Prentiss..." 

 

"I, Peter Alan Tyler," Rose's dad repeated, "Take you, Jacqueline Suzanne... Suzette... Anita..."  

 

"Oh, just carry on," Jackie huffed, 'It's good enough for Lady Di." 

 

"I thought he'd be taller," Rose whispers to the Doctor, who grinned.  

 

"... to be my lawful wedded wife," the guy in white robes continued. "To love and behold 'til death us do part..." 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

"That's so weird," Rose commented as we exited the TARDIS. Rose didn't seem to be all that happy because her face was twisted into a frown and her eyebrows ruffled. "The day my father died... I thought it'd be all sort of grim and stormy, it's just an ordinary day." 

 

"The past is another country. 1987's just the Isle of Wight," he looks down at Rose. "Are you sure about this?" 

 

"Yeah," Rose nods. 

 

We walked to the corner where Rose's dad would die. "This is it. Jordan Road. He was late. He'd been to get a wedding present -- a vase," Rose said, holding back tears. Mum always said, that stupid vase." A car comes around the corner, as Rose continued, "He got out of his car..." The car pulls over. "... and crossed the road." The car stops, and  Rose's dad comes out, "Oh, God. This is it." 

 

He picks up the vase and comes out of his car. He crosses the street, just as a large truck comes from around the corner. Rose's dad's eyes widen in shock and the driver of the truck throws his hands over his eyes.  

 

Rose looks away as the driver hits her father, his body flying through the air before finally hitting the ground with a sickening crunch, twitching slightly.  The vase shatters to the ground beside him. "Go to him," The Doctor says as Rose silently cries in his shoulder. She doesn't.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

We were standing along the wall, Rose has tears in her eyes. "It's too late now," Rose says, as a loud blaring sound fills the air. I wince painfully as the Doctor looks at her. "By the time the ambulance got there, he was dead," her throat chokes up and more tears fall down her face. The Doctor looks away, not saying anything.  

 

"He can't die on his own," Rose continued, "Can I try again?" 

 

The Doctor doesn't say anything for a few seconds, before finally, he sighs, "Okay." 

 

As we head back to the TARDIS, something sharp stings me in the neck. I quickly touch my neck and turn around to see the unnamed man from earlier, with a gun pointed at me. Before I could do anything, he slammed his hand on his wrist and flashed away. 

 

I quickly go to my neck, and pull out a small needle, dripping with a red substance, which makes my stomach turn, that was filled with some kind of liquid.  

 

"C'mon Auggie," the Doctor calls. I hurry over with them, but not before dropping the needle and smashing it under my heel. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

"Right. That's the first you, me, and Auggie," the Doctor says. We are crouched behind the wall, watching the old us. "It's a very bad idea, two sets of us being here at the same time. Just be careful they don't see us. Wait 'til she runs off and he follows, then go to your dad." 

 

"Oh, God. This is it," old Rose mutters, as Rose's dad comes around the corner and pulls up.  

 

"I can't do this," Rose says suddenly.  

 

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to," the Doctor reminds her. "But this is the last time we can be here." 

 

Rose begins to breathe heavily, as he crosses the street. Suddenly, she runs out. "Rose! No!" The Doctor shouts.  

 

As Rose runs off, I hold out my hand to control the earth, to wrap around her foot. Instead, it just barely cracks and a painful shock goes through my arm, I gasp in pain. Rose runs over, and saves her father from the deadly attack, and tumbles out of the way.  

 

The Doctor looks at her in horror as Rose laughed and said, "I did it! I saved your life!"  

 

"Blimey, did you see the speed of it?" Rose's dad replies. "Did you get his number?" 

 

Rose stares at him. "I really did it," she sighed. "Oh, my God, look at you! You're alive! That car was gonna kill ya!" 

 

"Well, give me some credit," He laughed. "I did see it coming. I wasn't gonna walk under it, was I?" 

 

"I'm Rose," Rose says.  

 

While Rose and her dad talk, I stare at my hand horrifically. What's going on!? Why did that hurt? What the heck did that guy shoot me with?!  

 

I tried to make a small flame, only to have my hand barely spark, but once again, shock of pain goes through me, and I grit my teeth, inhaling sharply. My powers?! Why won't they work?!! What did that guy do?!? I began to breath heavily. If this guy stopped my powers, then what else did he do?! 

 

"Auggie, what's wrong?" The Doctor asked, I looked up at him, fear staying in my eyes for a few seconds, before I looked away.  

 

"I'm fine," I mumbled, trying to breathe regularly. I look around for any traces if him, but finds nothing. Why did he do this? What was the point? Was he trying to get me to go back? How was taking my abilities going to help him?  

 

"Lets go, Auggie," the Doctor said, in almost a growling voice. I nod, and numbly follow the two, keeping an eye out for the mysterious man.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

We are in Rose's dad's house, I stand close to the Doctor, occasionally glancing out the window for him. "There we go. Sorry about the mess," Rose's dad apologizes. "If you want a cup of tea, the kitchen's just down there, milk's in the fridge... well, it would be, wouldn't it? Where else would you put the milk? Mind you, there's always the window sill outside. I always thought if someone invented a window sill with special compartments, you know, one for milk, one for yogurt... make a lot of money out of that.  

Sell it to students and things... I should write that down. Anyway, never mind that, excuse me..." He leaves the room, and Rose's eyes follow him as he goes.  

 

"All the stuff mum kept. His stuff. She kept it all packed away in boxes in the cupboard," Rose says, looking at the cluttered room. "She used to show me when she'd had a bit to drink." The Doctor leans against the door frame, saying nothing, and I sit down, half staring out the window, half listening. "Here it is. On display. Where it should be." 

 

Rose walks around the room, picking up things and showing them to the Doctor and smiling. Finally, he says something that catches my attention, "When we met, I said 'travel with me in space'. You said no," he says, suspicion clear in his voice. "Then I said 'time machine'." 

 

"It wasn't some big plan," Rose sighs. "I just saw it happening and I thought... I can stop it." 

 

"I did it again," he says, more to himself. "I picked another stupid ape. I should've known. It's not about showing you the universe -- it never is. It's about the universe doing something for you."  

 

"So it's okay when you go to other times, and you save people's lives -- but not when it's me saving my dad," Rose retorted angrily. 

 

"I know what I'm doing, you don't," the Doctor stated. "Two sets of us being there made that a vulnerable point." 

 

"But he's alive!" 

 

"My entire planet died. My whole family," the Doctor growls. "Do you think it never occurred to me to go back and save them?" 

 

"But it's not like I've changed history! Not much, I mean... he's never gonna be a world leader, he's not gonna start World War Three or anything..." She trails off. 

 

The Doctor got up, and took a few steps towards her, "Rose -- there's a man alive in the world who wasn't alive before," he says, silently angrily. "An ordinary man, that's the most important thing in creation. The whole world's different because he's alive." 

 

"What, would you rather him dead?"  

 

He sighs exasperatedly, "I'm not saying that--" 

 

"No, I get it!" She cuts him off, "For once, you're not the most important man in my life!" 

 

The Doctor stares at her for a second, "Let's see how you get on without me, then, give me the key." He holds his hand out, and Rose stares at him, "The TARDIS key. If I'm so insignificant, give it me back." 

 

She reaches into her pocket, and pulls it out. "All right then, I will!" She slams it into his open hand, I wince hearing how hard it hits on his skin, but the Doctor doesn't react.  

 

"Well, you've got what you wanted so that's goodbye then," he grabs my hand, and before I could even react, pulls me away. I quickly release myself, and move away from him, my eyes staying on the ground. 

 

I heard Rose say, "You don't scare me!" before we left the room. 

 

The silence between us is awkward. The Doctor silently fuming, and I watching and listening for even the slightest rustle of leaves.  

 

"Are you okay?" The Doctor asked, making me jump.  

 

"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you?" I replied, dodging the question.  

 

"Why are you so tense?" The Doctor asked, noticing that I hadn't really answered.  

 

"Why are you angry?" I replied.  

 

He frowns, "You're not answering my questions." 

 

"You aren't either." 

 

"What's up with you? There's something going on, isn't there?" He demanded. 

 

"There's nothing going on." 

 

"Then why are you so tense? Why do you flinch whenever I try to touch you? Why have you been so distant lately?" 

 

"It's nothing, Doctor," I heard the bush a few feet away from me rustle, and I sharply turn around, to see a small animal running across them, and I sighed.  

 

"'It's nothing' huh?" The Doctor scoffed.  

 

I ran a hand through my hair, "Look, Doctor. It's nothing. I'm just a bit... More on edge--" 

 

"You think," he grumbled.  

 

I rolled my eyes, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I'm sure it's nothing. No need to worry."  

 

He looked at me, suspiciously for a second, and sighed. "Right. Fine. Sorry I got angry at you," he apologized, as we got to th TARDIS.  

 

I stand more off to the side while the Doctor puts the key into the door. I keep my eyes to the trees, and watches as a black figure flies through the sky. "Rose!" The Doctor said, and grabbed my hand, running off.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

We ran as fast as we could, Mickey, who had apparently been much younger, ran ahead of us. People were disappearing left and right by the flying bird-like things above us. "ROSE!!" The Doctor shouted as we rounded the corner. Rose turned around, a smile on her face. "GET IN THE CHURCH!!" Her smile soon disappeared and one of the bird things appear over head of her and the small crowd of people.  

 

It goes towards her, and I run, pushing her to the ground so it misses, "Get in the building," I ordered. She nods and runs inside, I get up, "COME ON! GET INSIDE NOW!!" I yelled, ushering everyone in the stone building.  

 

In the corner of my eye, I see Mickey. He trips and falls and a bird-thing is right behind him. Acting quickly, I take him by the hand, and practically throw him inside. Scrambling into my feet, the Doctor holds out his hand, pulls me inside, and slams the door behind him, just before a bird-thing gets in.  

 

I leaned against the door, breathing heavily, wincing at the ear-piercing screeches of he bird-thing. "They can't get in," the Doctor says, more to himself. "Old windows and doors, okay. The older something is, the stronger it is. The more powerful something is, the more it attracts. What else?" The thing screeches again, "Go and check the other doors! Move!" 

 

He runs over to find any other doors, and I see Jackie following him. After catching my breath, I go to see the other doors, and make sure they're all locked.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

I was near one of the back rooms, when I heard someone shout, "Stupid Vortex Manipulator!" from one of the stairs underground. I narrow my eyes, and slowly head down the steps, hearing more offensive comments about a 'Vortex Manipulator'. I press my back against the wall, listening to the man.  

 

I hear a small crash, a few swear words, and the a flash of a black coat. My eyes widen, and I peek around the corner. Standing there, next to a few other walls, is the man from earlier, looking very angry at his watch. He turns around, and I quickly move back, but I know he saw me.  

 

I hear the sharp cocking of a gun, "Who's there?!" He shouts, and I don't reply.  

 

There is a hushed drumming of footsteps, and I press my body against the wall, silencing my breathing. I know he is right there.  

 

Suddenly, he whips around the corner, pointing his gun at me. I duck, and rolled behind him, kicking him under his legs, making him fall to the ground.  

 

Using this advantage, I kick his gun away, and take out the blade that I saw glimmering in his pocket, pressing it against his neck. "What the hell did you do to me?!" I growled.  

 

"Oh, it's you," he replied. He kneed me in the stomach, making me groan and lose my grip on the knife. He scrambles up, grabs my hand, and twisted it behind my back. I grit my teeth in pain and he laughed. "What a pleasant surprise," he continued. "Who would've thought you didn't actually die out there with the reapers." 

 

"I asked you a question!" I kick him in the shin, as hard as I could, and pulled my arm from his grip. I quickly get away from him, "What. Did. You. Do. To. Me?"  

 

"Suppressed your abilities," he replied easily. "They needed  your abilities weakened, for now. Unfortunately, it's only temporary, they needed your abilities for a... Different cause, so they couldn't make it permanent. For now." 

 

"It wears off?" I clarified, slightly relieved.  

 

"No," I tense. "You need the antidote for it to go away. Of course. I have one but--" 

 

"Give it to me!" I glared.  

 

"I will," he said. "But, you'll have to show me your friend's ship. It's called the TARDIS, right?"  

 

I froze, he wants the TARDIS? "What do you want with the TARDIS?" 

 

"That is none of your concern," he winks and my glare intensifies.  

 

"I'm not showing you to the TARDIS," I told him.  

 

"Then I guess you'll have to live without abilities," he shrugged.  

 

I cursed. "Show me the antidote," I demanded.  

 

He smirked, and reached into his jacket pulling out a glass flask with a red liquid inside. "There see. Here's the antidote and--" he didn't have time to finish. I lunged at him, and he jumped back. I picked up the knife off the ground, and slashed at his body. I pushed him against the wall, the knife against his neck, making blood trickle down his skin.  

 

I used my free hand to knock the glass flask out of his hand, and take it from him. Then, I threw it on the ground, and smashed it under my foot. "Why did you--" 

 

"Give me the real antidote," I hissed. I remembered that the needle he shot at me had a few drops of red in it. That wasn't the antidote, it was the poison.  

 

He chuckled, "Well, I guess you do have a few brains in that thick head of yours," I growled at him, pressing the knife farther.  

 

"Give me the real antidote, or I'll slit your throat," I hissed.  

 

"Do it," he said, his yellow eyes burrowing into my skull. "I'm not giving you the antidote, so do it. But my deal still remains. Show me the TARDIS, and I will give it to you."  

 

I glared at him, forcing my arm to press farther, but instead, my hand began to shake. My fingers were trembling, my hands were getting clammy, and my grip around the knife loosening. Just do it! I encouraged myself, kill him and take the antidote off his dead body! 

 

But what would the Doctor think, I frowned. The Doctor doesn't kill, so why should I? Why would I? Do I really need the antidote? I never wanted these abilities in the first place! I-I didn't want to be a monster, and now I didn't have to. I was being given a second chance, so why would I want it?  

 

Why am I hesitating? I've killed people before, some out of cold blood, so why am I stopping now? Why am I worrying about what the Doctor would think? Would he hate me if I killed him? Would he hurt me if I killed him? 

 

The man saw my hesitation and kicked me away from him. I hit the stone wall painfully, and he picked up his knife. "Who would've thought, a monster like you would hesitate like that," he laughed. He pulled me up by my braids, and a cry of pain released from my mouth.  

 

"You know, I've heard all sorts of rumors about you, the monster who killed nearly hundreds of people, out of cold blood. Who would've thought that it'd be just a weak little girl!?" He pulls on my hair harder, and I grit my teeth, refusing to let him see me cry. 

 

He squeezed my face in his hand, making my mouth open. "You know, I realize why you hesitated when you had the chance to kill me," he grinned. "You don't want to be a monster anymore? You don't want these abilities, so you stopped. Well guess what? You're not going to be let off that easily!" He reached into his jacket and pulled out a needle with a green substance inside it.  

 

I gasped, and tried to move, but he held me in place. He pulled up my sleeve, and without warning, stabbed the needle into my skin. I screamed, but I felt energy slowly return to my body. The man got off me, and smirked. He held his, supposedly faulty, watch out.  

 

"I hope you know, that someone's gotta be the monster," he said, his hand hovering over the button. "And you were just specially chosen to be it." 

 

He slammed his hand down on his watch, not before taking a knife out and stabbing me in the shoulder. He disappeared, just as I heard rapid footsteps approaching. "Auggie?! Auggie, what's wrong?!" The Doctor's voice shouted, as he raced down the steps.  

 

I saw him pick me up gently, "What the hell...?" He muttered. He hovered his hand over my shoulder, that the knife was sticking out of, but I smacked it away, not bothering to even acknowledge his hurt look. I took a deep breath, and yanked it out, and the Doctor's eyes widened.  

 

I noticed that there was a paper attached to the end, that had my still-warm blood splattered on it. It was the same symbol as my brand. 

 

The symbol of a phoenix.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

The Doctor brought me upstairs to everyone, and made me sit down, he kept asking questions, but I didn't answer. So he stopped. Soon, Rose found us, "Doctor! Is she okay? What happened to her?!"  

 

"I don't know," he said, lying me down on the wooden chairs, "I just found her like this." 

 

"How'd she get hurt!?" Rose asked, noticing the blood that now, had stopped bleeding. I took the end of my shirt, and quickly ripped it, carefully wrapping the end around my arm.  

 

"I'm fine," I told them, but the Doctor scoffed.  

 

"Don't tell me those lies," the Doctor growled, "I found you with a knife in your shoulder! You definitely are not fine! In fact, you seem to attract trouble!!"  

 

"I'm fine," I muttered again, not even bothering to change my answer. I was in too much shock. I had the chance to get rid of this curse, and I didn't. I'm an idiot. I don't even know why I wanted my abilities back, I never wanted them in the first place. Did they grow on me? Have I learned to... Depend on it? Why? I don't even understand my own actions at this point!  

 

"... Are you even listening to me!?" The Doctor nearly shouted. I merely nodded, not bothering to say anything else. He sighed. "I'll be right back. Just... Don't go anywhere." With that, he left, and Rose went to go talk to someone else, leaving me on the bench by myself. 

 

I sighed, it's been a long day. I just want to go back to the TARDIS and-- "Hey there," someone said, making me jump. I looked over to see Rose's dad sitting there, with a blonde... Figure in his arms. "How are you feelin'? You're Rose's friend, right?" 

 

"Yeah," I nodded, "I'm fine." 

 

He rose an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. He looked down to the... Thing in his arm. It was wrapped in a thick pink blanket. Its eyes were open and were staring at me, I blinked, what is that? "Do you wanna hold her?" He asked, catching my gaze. 

 

So its a her, "Uh... Yeah. Sure," I said. He placed whatever it was in my arms. "Um... What is it?" 

 

He laughed, "What do you mean? It's my baby!" 

 

"'Baby'?" I've heard of a baby before, and that they cry a lot, but I've never actually seen one. "This what a baby looks like?" 

 

He gave me a strange look, "Of course. What, are you an only child?"  

 

'Only child'? "Uhm... Yes?"  

 

The Doctor came back, holding a red and white first aid kit. "Oh, you've met the baby, I see," he grins.  

 

Suddenly, it started crying, my eyes widened, "AHA!" I shouted, in surprise. "What did I do?! It's crying! Did I hurt it?! Why is it crying!?" 

 

The Doctor laughed and shushed the baby, and it stopped. "What-- How?" 

 

"I speak Baby," he says, and turns to the man. "She's hungry." He only seems to nod, and goes to get something.  

 

The Doctor sits down beside me as I awkwardly hold the baby. "You're holding her wrong," he says, not even looking at me.  

 

"I've never seen a... Baby before," I replied. The Doctor sighed, and takes the baby, fixes my arms, and lies the baby in them.  

 

"There," he grinned.  

 

"Why was it-- she crying?" I asked, looking at the baby.  

 

"She didn't like the way you were holding her," he replied. "That and, she sensed your distress--" he paused, looking at the baby. "You're scared of her? Why? There's nothing to be scared of." 

 

"What?" 

 

"Babies can sense danger; they're more telepathic when they're younger. She sensed you and started to cry because she was scared," he explained.  

 

I can only nod, when suddenly, the baby emits another sound, and the Doctor looks at her. "No. She's not dumb. She's just never seen a baby before," he rolls his eyes. "Don't be rude." 

 

I blink, and looked at the baby, who looked at me. Her dark green eyes staring at me. I saw her lift her small hand and bump me in the chin. "Yeah," the Doctor nodded. "She is pretty." 

 

My eyes widen, pretty? 

 

Suddenly, I take the baby and give her to the Doctor. "Let's switch," I said frantically. "I give you mini-human, you give me first aid kit." Before he could even answer, I took the first aid kit and scramble away from the duo.  

 

My mind is going haywire. Pretty? I'm not pretty. I remember what the Doctor said 'pretty' was. I'm definitely not that. I'm a monster, and monsters can't be pretty. 

 

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, wincing since its sore from him pulling on it. I take the wrapping from my shirt off my arm and open up the casing, properly wrapping it. I hear the Doctor and Rose arguing from where I was standing, but I didn't bother to listen.  

 

Why did that man want the TARDIS? I wondered, what made him change his mind. I remembered when I first came unto the TARDIS, and the Doctor asked me if I was there to steal her. Was he one of those people who wanted the TARDIS? Was she really that valuable?  

 

"Auggie," the Doctor called, making me look up. He was staring at me, with his mouth curled into a frown. "You're put it on wrong." I looked at my shoulder, it was pretty loose, and was about to fall off. I had been too lost in my thoughts to even tighten it. 

 

He walked over, and took the wrappings off, redoing it. "How did this happen?" He asked, as he tightened it for me. "Who did this?" 

 

"Nobody," I said, rubbing my shoulder once he finished.  

 

"You're lying," he said. "Just tell me what happened." 

 

"Nothing happened," I said.  

 

"Auggie, don't lie to me," he said, his voice was low and intimidating. "Why was there a knife in your shoulder? Who's after you?!" 

 

"Nobody!" I sighed and my eyes set into a small glare. "It doesn't involve you, okay? Just leave me alone."  

 

"'Doesn't involve me'?! Augusta, if I find you with a bloody knife in your shoulder, then it definitely involves me! I'm supposed to be here to help you--" 

 

"NO YOU'RE NOT!" I shouted, "I never asked you to worry about me, I don't even know why you do! You don't even know me, so why are you so worried!? Why do you even care!?"  

 

He glared heatedly at me, "It doesn't matter--" 

 

"It does matter!" I cut him off, "I never asked you to worry about me, so why don't you leave me alone!?"  

 

"I'm not just gonna leave you! I'm supposed to--" 

 

"To what?! To watch me?! To care for me!?" I laughed dryly. "Last time I checked, you weren't my father. And if you were, then you're doing a bad job at it!" 

 

"How would you know!?" He shouted, "You've never even had one before!" 

 

I looked at him, shocked. I pressed my lips into a thin line, and took a deep breath,  "You're right," I agreed coldly. "I've never had a dad before. And you know what? If this how dad's are supposed to act, then I'm so damn happy I've never had one." With that, I picked up the first aid kit, practically throwing it in his face, and walking away.  

 

I don't know why, but I felt my eyes get teary, and I fiercely wiped them away. Now is not the time to be crying. We need to get out of here. All Rose had to do was you touch the baby, make the reaper things appear, have the Doctor sacrifice himself, and then Rose's dad dies. No biggie, its not like its the end of the world.  

 

"Everyone, come here!" The Doctor called. He is standing in the middle of the church, his jacket off. I took a deep breath, and moved to sit down with everyone.  

 

Once everyone is gathered around, the Doctor starts talking. "The inside of my ship was thrown out of a wound but we can use THIS to bring it back," he shows the key to everyone. "And once I've got my ship back, then I can mend everything. Now, I just need a bit of power. Has anybody got a battery?" 

 

A man jumps up, and shows the Doctor a yellow-ish box, with a wire sticking out of it. "This one big enough?" He asked. 

 

The Doctor sees this, and hurried over to him, "Fantastic!" He grins.  

 

"Good old dad," the man smiled as he gives the Doctor the yellow box. "There you go." 

 

"Just need to do a bit of charging up..." He pressed his sonic on the backside of the box. "And then we can bring everyone back." 

 

After fiddling with the key and the box for a few minutes, he places it in the air, and the TARDIS begins to materialize around it. "Right, no-one touches that key," he says, once it's safe. "Have you got that? Don't touch it. Anyone touches that key, it'll be -- well -- zap! Just leave it be and everything will be fine. We'll get out of here. All of us. Stuart -- Sarah -- you're gonna get married, just like I said." He grins to the duo in the front. There is a woman with a really big stomach, for some reason, and a man, with his arm wrapped around the woman.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Everyone is sitting around, waiting for the TARDIS to appear. I hear the Doctor go to Rose to talk, and I sit by myself, staring into space.  

 

"Hello," a soft voice says in front of me, making me shoot up. I see the woman from earlier, I look around. The man who was sitting beside her is talking to a few others. "Why are you sitting by yourself like that? Aren't you scared?" 

 

I blinked, "I'm sorry, what?" 

 

She laughed, her voice is soft and her laughter sounds like bells, yet you can hear her british accent. "I asked, why you're sitting alone? Aren't you scared of what's going to happen to us?" Her voice, although soft, hinted with shakiness. Was she scared? If she was scared, then why was she asking me if I was scared?  

 

I merely shrugged, "I've seen scarier things then these Reapers," I replied, quite honestly.  

 

She laughed, disbelievingly. "Oh really? What?" 

 

I didn't answer, I just sat in my seat, and stared at the TARDIS that was slowly but surely forming itself. The lady seemed to notice this, "Hey, come here for a second. I wanna show you something." 

 

I looked at her, but walked over to the other bench in front where she was sitting. She was gazing down at her stomach, rubbing it. I sat beside her, not really saying anything. "The baby's due in about four mouths," she says.  

 

"'Baby'?" I ruffled my eyebrows. "What baby?" 

 

She laughed, "This baby," she lightly patted her overgrown stomach.  

 

My eyes nearly bulged, "That's a baby?!"  

 

She laughed harder, "Yes, this is a baby. Or, will be, once it's born." 

 

I was seriously confused, "Your baby is inside you? Like the one that Jackie has? That kind of mini-human!?" 

 

She nodded, "Have you not been explained the birds and the bees?" She asked, with a small grin.  

 

"The birds and the what?"  

 

She laughed again, "Nevermind about that then." She looked down at her stomach, where, apparently, her baby was being held. "I don't want to die," she says. "I want to be a mother to this child. This Doctor -- you were talking to him earlier -- he said that he would be able to save us, but... I'm still worried. It's my wedding day, you see, that's why I'm all dressed up like this," she chuckled. "I wanna live my life. I want to have this child, and I-I want to marry my fiancé, Stuart. If-if I die, if we all die, then I-I'll never be ab-able to do-do any of th-that!" 

 

Tears slowly fell down her bright cheeks, as she sobbed. I stared at her, wide-eyed, she's crying! I've never had to help someone who's crying!! What do I do?! What do I say!? "I-I'm sorry to cry in front of a kid like you. It's so pathetic," she said, through her tears.  

 

"U-um, it's okay," I said, trying to remember what the Doctor would do to me if I were crying. I quickly wrapped my arms around her, and let her sob into my shoulder. "It'll be okay..."  

 

"I'm sorry," she cried.  

 

"You're not going to die," I told her, "Trust me. I know." 

 

"How would you know?" She demanded.  

 

I opened my mouth to say something, but stopped. Then I sighed, "I'm from a different... Universe. I promise you, none of you are going to die. You're going to be able to live out your life, with your child, and everything will be alright." 

 

She scoffed, and pulled away, "Kids these days," she said, shaking her head lightly. "Thank you. I'm sorry I cried all over you," she laughed, "So pathetic..." 

 

"It's okay," I insisted, when really I felt gross. I could smell her stench all over my body, which nearly made me gag. "Are you okay?"  

 

"I'm fine, thanks to you," she smiled. "Thanks for putting up with me, maybe we might actually just--" 

 

"Rose! No!" The Doctor shouted, making me jump up. Quickly, I grabbed this lady's arm, and pulled her up, just as a Reaper appeared in the middle of the room. I quickly pulled her over to the Doctor, just as he instructed everyone to get behind him.  

 

"I'm the oldest, most powerful thing in this room," he says, once everyone is safely behind him. The Reaper screeches, but I saw it hesitate. It's not looking at the Doctor, it's looking at me! 

 

Suddenly, it swoops down, aiming straight at me, and I roll out of the way, "Augusta!" The Doctor shouted.  

 

I jumped over the bench, "It doesn't want them, it wants me!" I yelled, "Take them to safety, hurry!!" Just as I said that, it swooped down again, and I slide under the bench, so it misses. I see the Doctor standing there, his eyes wide. "HURRY!!!" I screamed. Before I could say anything else, the Reaper wrapped it's large wings around my body, and everything went black.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

"AUGUSTA!" He yelled, he was so confused. He was the oldest, most powerful thing, so why was it after her? 

 

"It doesn't want them, it wants me!" She screamed, as she skillfully jumped over the bench, her long braids whipping around her head as she went. "Take the them to safety, hurry!"  

 

It swooped down at her again, and she slid under the bench, sending the Reaper the opposite direction. She looked at him, her hazel eyes wide with panic, "HURRY!!" She screamed, just as the Reaper wrapped it's long black, bat-like wings around her body, and she disappeared.  

 

"AUGGIE!!" Rose screamed, as the Reaper turned to them, it's eyes danced among the crowd before finally settling on him. He wasn't able to say or do anything because the Reaper wrapped his arms around him, and the universe turned black. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta.
> 
> Please do not copy.


	16. C H A P T E R  F O U R T E E N

Chapter 15: 

Augusta's POV 

Everything was dark. I felt like I was falling, but I wasn't moving at all. There was a sound, that sounded faraway, and mangled making it hard to hear, but I was gradually getting louder. "Wa... Aug... Usta... Up... Augu... Augusta!!"  

 

I shot up and slamming heads with the black figure on top of me, painfully. "Augh," I moaned, holding my head painfully. The edges of my vision flashed black, and I rubbed my eyes.  

 

"Ow!" The black figure cried as well, stumbling back. I noticed that this was the Doctor, and I was lying on the, rather comfy, yellow, worn seat in the TARDIS.  

 

"Why'd you hit me?!" I exclaimed, rubbing my throbbing head.  

 

"I didn't," he said, leaning against the TARDIS, doing the same. "I just didn't expect you to wake up like that." 

 

"Well, if you weren't yelling in my face, then I probably wouldn't have," I retorted. I was still very mad about what he had said earlier. "Where's Rose?"  

 

He seemed to notice my anger, and frowned, "She's in her room. She wanted to be alone after what happened." 

 

I nodded briskly, and headed down the hallway. "Where are you going?" He called after me.  

 

"My bedroom," I replied, turning down the hall, and in front of the brown metal door that led to my room.  

 

Just as my hand hovered over the doorknob, I heard him say: "... You're still mad, aren't you?" His voice was hesitant and sad, but I heard something something else in it that I wasn't able to place.  

 

I looked at him, my eyes hardened into a cold glare, "Yes. I am." With those short words, I opened the door, and entered my dark room, and turned on the lights.  

 

My room was pretty big. It had bronze metal walls, and a, what the Doctor had called, white hammock that swung from the ceiling, with brown blanket on top. The doors were bronze as well. There were tables that went around the side of the room, messy, and filled with metal supplies for my building pleasures. There was also a bookshelf filled with black, empty, sketchbooks for me to draw and sketch in. There was also a brown dresser with clothes, and a closet, also fully stocked with clothing.  

 

I had gotten the room about last week. The Doctor had said that I deserved to sleep in an actual room, and not in the Medical Bay, since he would need that, but hopefully not. He said that the TARDIS had picked out my room, especially for me, and I loved it. If I couldn't sleep, which would probably be often, I could build, just like at Mr. and Mrs. Jackson's house! 

 

I sighed, and flopped down on the hammock, making it swing back and forth. When I first got it, I kept falling out of the hammock, but then I learned how not to. I never actually slept in it; it was always too comfortable, and it made me uncomfortable. I got up, and over to my bookshelf, plucking the first book from the top off and opening it. It already had a few sketches that I drew in it. I flipped to a clean page, and began to sketch what the man had looked like.  

 

I remembered that he had piercing yellow eyes, and white hair. He also had a muscular build, and a black trench coat that held probably a lot of weapons. I circled the places where I thought his weapons might be in. I remembered that there was a small opening on the end of his shoes, he probably had a blade in there as well, so I circled it. His pants had at least five or six pockets on them, and that's from what I could see.  

 

I recalled the odd, bulky watch that he wore around his wrist. It was black, and had some sort of triangle-like button on the top. There was also some sort of dial on it, that was set to a date, that I don't remember. He called it something, what was it? Itex, no... Vertix... Vortex. Vortex! He called it a 'Vortex Manipulator!'  

 

I don't know how to spell that, so I just remembered the name. I closed my book, and placed it back on the shelf carefully.  

 

I went back to my hammock and sighed, its been a long day. I just want to go to sleep.  

 

But sleep never came. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

He felt depressed. His guilt consuming him. Augusta was ignoring him because of what he had said to her earlier, and frankly, he doesn't blame her. He took it too far and she was just a child for god's sake!  

 

He sighed, and leaned his head against the console, "What are we going to do, Old Girl," he mumbled, gently stroking the metal boarding. A sad, sounding hum was his response.  

 

He sighed, and got up, there was no use in wasting time and being depressed. He grabbed his tool belt, and began to fiddle with the circuitry under the console. 

 

A few hours later, he heard footsteps coming down the hall, and soon, Rose emerged. A small smile was on her face, and when she saw him, it widened and made her eyes sparkle. 

 

"Hello down there!" She grinned, walking over to him, "Whatcha doin'?" 

 

He pushed himself out of the small hole, "Nothing important," he replied, placing the metal plate above it.  

 

Rose looked around, "Where's Auggie?"  

 

He frowned instantly, "She's in her room," he replied, his voice sounding as guilty as he felt.  

 

She sensed this, and frowned as well, "What happened?" 

 

He sighed, "She's still upset about what happened at the church." 

 

"Oh," Rose said. He told her all about what happened earlier. At first she was mad at him for taking it that far, but she got over it. 

 

There was a short silence, "I'm gonna go check on her," he said. He went down the hallway and to the direction of her room, and Rose followed. 

 

Once he got to her bronze door, he knocked on it softy. "Auggie?" He called, only to receive no response.  "Auggie?" He said, this time much louder.  

 

"Let me try," Rose said, moving past him. "Auggie, its me, Rose, can we come in."  

 

When there still wasn't a response, he frowned, "Something's not right..." He pulled out his sonic, and sonicked the door, causing the bronze metal door to move.  

 

The room was dimly lit, and the hammock where she would sleep was empty. His eyes widened, remembering what happened last time the bed was empty.  

 

He quickly turned on the lights, scanning the room. A sigh of relief left his mouth when he realized, that she was on the floor sleeping, instead of the hammock.  

 

Rose giggled, "Why's she on the floor?" She asked, as he went over to her. He shrugged, and tapped her on the shoulder.  

 

"Hey, it's time to get up," he told her.  

 

She moved away, and pulled the blanket over her head. "Go away," she mumbled. 

 

"Come on, Auggie," Rose piped, helping. "I'll make pancakes?" 

 

"I don't like pancakes," she muttered.  

 

"Maybe we can go out to eat," he suggested. "How about... The Ketopitan Galaxy? They're known for their good food." 

 

She didn't say anything for a few seconds. "I'm still mad at you," she said. He heard a pout in her voice, and his hearts clenched with guilt.  

 

"I'm sorry, I--" 

 

"If you let me cook," she cut him off, "I'll forgive you." He rose an eyebrow, that's it? That was all he had to do? There had to be some kind of catch. "But..." Here it comes. "You have to eat whatever I make. All of it." 

 

He looked at Rose, who shrugged, not seeing anything bad about this, "That's it?" He asked. 

 

"That's it," she promised. 

 

"... Okay." As soon as those words left his mouth, she shot up. 

 

"What are we waiting for?" She grinned mischievously, he noticed that there were small bags under her eyes that blended into her dark skin. She must've been up for hours. "Let's go!" 

 

"You were awake?" He questioned  

 

"Never slept," she shrugged, and headed down the hall, the opposite direction of the kitchen. 

 

"You're going the wrong way!" He said, and she turned on her heel. 

 

"Knew that!"  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

He sat at the counter, watching as she put Rassilon knows what in a large bowl. "So... What are you making?" 

 

"You'll see," she grinned, mixing everything together. She had, so far, put in slices of chicken that she had found, syrup, salt, sugar, a few raw eggs, and tomato sauce.  

 

Rose laughed, "That looks gross!" She rolled her eyes, and kept working.  

 

He watched as she used a big spoon, and mixed everything together, then pouring it into a pan, and setting it in the stove, and turning it on. "When did you learn how to cook?" He asked curiously. 

 

"I had to cook for Mr. and Mrs. Johnson all the time," she replied. "I looked at the cookbooks and followed the pictures. Sometimes, I'd get it right. Other times they'd explode." 

 

He blinked, "Sorry, what?" 

 

She laughed, "I'd sometimes accidentally get some stuff wrong..." She rubbed the back of her neck. "Sometimes they'd burn, or freeze... It's a bit complicated..." 

 

He rose an eyebrow, Freeze? "Do you like cooking?" Rose asked. 

 

"No," this caught him off guard. "There's too much stuff involved. I can't read so sometimes I'd get I'd wrong." 

 

He frowned, "Then why did you--" he was cut off by the stove dinging, and she went over to it.  

 

She pulled out a large pan -- with her bare hands -- and set it on the stove. Taking a fork out of the drawer, she plucked a slice of meat out and placing it on a plate, and gave it to him.  

 

"Here. Eat it," she said, her face was, somehow, expressionless, as she set the plate down.  

 

He looked at Rose, then at her, "If I eat this, then you'll forgive me?" He asked, just to be sure. She nodded. He sighed, and picked out a piece. "Here goes nothing," he said, and ate it.  

 

His eyes widened, his mouth was bursting with flavor. The food was sour and sweet at the same time. The eggs had somehow melted into the chicken, creating a sensational taste. The syrup made the food super sweet, but the tomato sauce somehow balanced it out.  

 

He looked at Augusta, who was only standing there, staring at him. "What? Is it bad?" Rose asked.  

 

"No, it's..." He looked at the plate, "Auggie, where did you learn to cook like this?" 

 

She turned to get a more plates and forks, fixing Rose and herself a plate. "For the past few hours, I was working on how to create a food that doesn't look like it tasted good, but really is," she explained. "I wanted to explain something to you." 

 

"What is that?" 

 

She looked down, "When you saw me cooking, you didn't think it would taste good, and probably thought that I would poison you, but I didn't. I wanted you to trust me. If I was going to poison you, then I would've done so a long time ago," she paused. "And if I wanted to tell you about my secret and what was going on with me, then I would've, when I wanted to." 

 

His eyes fractioned, that was what this was about? She was trying to teaching him a lesson about trust? "Doctor, I'm still new to all this... Emotion and love-thing. I don't completely understand it yet. And I know, that you worrying about me is because you love me, I understand that. And I understand that you want me to tell you every single detail about what happened in my life, but I can't. There are some things I can tell you, and other things that if I tell you about, then you might get killed, or worse..." He narrowed his eyes, what could be worse then being killed. Well actually, there were hundreds of things that were worse, but he couldn't think of anything that she could be the cause of. 

 

She took a deep breath, "What I'm trying to say, is... I don't know you. I don't know you either, Rose. And you both sure as hell don't know me. I don't want to get close to you, either of you, because I don't want you to get hurt. So... When I don't tell you when something is wrong or when something is happening, I want you two to trust me. And if-- when, I ask you for help, I know that I can trust you two to help me." She finished and exhaled, he looked at her, surprised by her speech.  

 

"Is that okay?" She asked, looking at them.  

 

"That's... Fantastic," he grinned.  

 

"Yeah, we understand, Auggie," Rose smiled, taking another bite out of her chicken, and sighing. "Ah, how in the world did you make this?" 

 

Augusta laughed, "That's a secret that I can tell you!" She explained how she tasted nearly everything in the kitchen, and how the TARDIS helped, showing her ingredients that would mix with it. It was actually very clever of her and his Old Girl. 

 

The three of them talked and laughed for a half hour. There was a happy atmosphere between the three of them and they'd laugh until their sides hurt, which made Augusta worry about their health, again. He silently wished that he could be happy like this all the time, almost like how he had been on Gallifrey, before the war.  

 

After a short silence, Rose said, "Hey... Don't you have a pool? In the TARDIS?" 

 

He nodded, "Yup." 

 

"How 'bout we take a short swim break?" She grinned.  

 

"If you want to," he replied. He hadn't really used the Pool Room that the TARDIS had, but his companions usually liked it, so he just kept it. "What do you think, Auggie?" 

 

She shrugged, probably not even knowing what they meant. Rose grabbed her by the hand and raced out the room, "I'm gonna go pick out a cute suit for her!" She called and raced down the hall. 

 

He chuckled to himself, and began to pick up the dirty dishes, washing them, and heading down to the Pool himself.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV  

"No," I said firmly, for what seemed like the twentieth time, I had lost count. 

 

"Why not?!" Rose whined, tossing the flashy 'swimsuit' in the pile with the rest.  

 

We were in the TARDIS's wardrobe, and Rose wanted to choose a 'swimsuit' for me, which at the time seemed like a good idea. I did not know that 'swimsuits' were so... Revealing! All the ones that Rose pulled out had no actual clothing on it. It was just a strap for your chest, some bright colors and underwear. Sometimes, the strap for your chest and the underwear part weren't in two pieces, but even then, there were no pants or sleeves! Also. they are all slippery! It felt weird when I touched it, and I certainly did not want to wear it! 

 

Not to mention, the pale pink scars from them and red dots still littered my skin, and even though they had seen them already back on Belltrix, I didn't want to show them off again. I felt... Different with them, I don't know how else to describe it. It made me feel weird when someone else saw them, or of my sleeve rolled up, and they were visible. It made my stomach turn painfully, and my face grow warm, which is another thing that confuses me.  

 

It seems as though my face can change colors, just like Rose's and the Doctor's and Jackie's, except, it doesn't. It just feels hot, but if doesn't turn red like theirs. I don't know if I can control that either. Maybe I'm broken, just like how my smile was that one time, when my eyes felt sad. I'll have to ask the Doctor about it. Maybe he has some way to fix it, or-- 

 

My thoughts were cut off by another bright yellow swimsuit getting shoved in my face, "What about this one?" Rose asked. It was as revealing as all the rest! 

 

"No!" I frowned, crossing my arms. "I just won't go swimming!" I didn't even understand swimming, anyway! It's just taking a bath, in a bigger tub!! 

 

"C'mon, you have to choose something," Rose sighed, picking up a blue one. "What about this one? I liked this one!"  

 

I shook my head, defiantly. "Maybe if you just--" my voice was cut off by the Doctor entering the wardrobe.  

 

"There you two are," he frowned, "I thought you were going to the pool? What's holding you up?" 

 

"Auggie won't pick a swimsuit," Rose sighed.  

 

He looked at me, frowning, "What's wrong with this?" He gestured to the swimsuits that littered the flooring with bright, vibrant colors. 

 

I shook my head, 'no'. "I can't--" I was cut off by a bright light illuminating something in the corner of my eye. I turned to see a dark red swimsuit, but instead of the others, it had long sleeves and pants attached. It was also a bit bulky on the side, which seemed weird. I picked it off the shelf and held it before me. It covered everything, so they wouldn't have a chance at seeing the pale pink scars that littered my body here and there. I grinned, "Thanks TARDIS," I earned a soft hum in response.  

 

"I see the TARDIS found you something," the Doctor grinned. "Welp, no need to stand there, hurry up and change!" The Doctor grinned, and left the room, probably heading for the pool. I went to the changing room, and changed into the swimsuit. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

"C'mon Auggie, no need to be water shy," Rose said, swimming around in circles in the water.  

 

I crossed my arms, and looked away, "I just don't understand the point in it," I tried to explain. "Its a big tub! Are you getting washed?" 

 

Rose's laughter echoed the room, "No, silly, its a pool you swim in it!" I frowned at her, untrustingly. "Okay, look. Just give it a try, I promise it won't hurt you." 

 

"Last time I was here, I fell in," I frowned, remembering how I had fell into the pool, nearly dying while doing so.  

 

"I'll be here to help you, and so will the Doctor," Rose encouraged. I looked down, and she made a face that made my chest hurt. "Please? Just give it a try." Her lip was put out and her eyes wider than usual. 

 

I sighed and went to the steps on the corner of the pool, walking in slowly. The water felt weird against my legs, and went up about to my waist. Rose walked over grinning madly, she was up to something. "What are you--" 

 

Before I could finish, she splashed the water in my face. My mouth went agape and I stood there in shock, as she giggled. "Now you have to splash me," she said.  

 

I looked at her oddly, but splashed the water at her. She laughed harder, and splashed me, and I repeated it. "I don't understand the point in this," I said. 

 

Rose sighed, "Let's play a game!" She suggested.  

 

"'Game'?" 

 

"Yeah! Let's play tag," she said. "You're it!" She splashed me in the face and swam away quickly. 

 

"Wha-- Rose! I don't... Hey! Don't leave me here!!" I turned to the Doctor who was standing against the wall, chuckling to himself. When he saw me, he motioned for me to go to her.  

 

I sighed and began to walk awkwardly through the water. Rose was far ahead from me, and at this pace, I was never going to catch up to her. "Come and get me, ya slow poke!" 

 

"What's a 'slow poke'?!" That didn't even sound like English! 

 

Rose laughed, and went to swim again quickly. I sighed, I was getting nowhere! I looked down at the water that seemed to slip through my fingers, and something clicked in my head. "Hey Rose, you said that all I have to do it splash you, right?" 

 

"Yep, that's the rules," she said, and I smirked. 

 

I went underwater, creating a water bubble around my head so I could breathe. I pointed on the water around Rose's feet to freeze tightly so she couldn't move. "Wha-- AUGGIE!" I heard her shout in protest.  

 

I was a few feet behind her when I began to create a large water wave. When it was finally high enough, I made it move towards her.  

 

She screamed when it had just reached over her head, and I appeared behind her, "You're it." Just like that, the large wave came crashing down. I unfroze her feet so she could move, and we both went to go sit on the edge of the pool. Water was in large puddles on the ground, the Doctor was right behind us with towels.  

 

"You cheater," she scowled, hitting me softly on the shoulder. "That's not fair." 

 

I didn't saw anything, for a few minutes. Finally, a small smile appeared on my face, and I began to chuckle lightly, which turned into a giggle, which turned into full blown laughter.  

 

I was laying on the concrete edge, just laughing. Soon, my sides began to hurt and so did my cheeks, but I couldn't stop. After staring at me for a few seconds, Rose joined me, and we were both laughing hysterically. I saw the Doctor, chuckle as well.  

 

For the next ten minutes, we were just laughing, stomachs hurting, tears streaming down our faces, and laughing. I felt... Happy, which is something I thought I'd never feel. I looked over to Rose, who was finally calming down, as was I.  

 

After we recomposed ourselves, we went back in the water, I promised not to cheat anymore. Even the Doctor went to go wade in the shallower end, and helped me learn how to swim. 

 

We must've been in there for hours, because I felt really exhausted. My eyes felt droopy, my movements more sluggish, and I kept yawning, involuntarily. "Somebody must be sleepy," Rose grinned.  

 

"I'm not tired," I protested.  

 

"I think you are," the Doctor said, taking my hand. "C'mon, lets go get you ready for bed. We can go explore the Caterrial Galaxy tomorrow." He grinned, and I nodded, making my way out of the pool. I noticed that my skin felt all weird, and my hair was soaking wet.  

 

After I changed, the Doctor led me to my room. He helped me settle in my hammock, which was far too comfy for me to sleep in, but I didn't feel like moving. "G'night, Auggie," he smiled.  

 

I nodded to him, and he headed for the door. "Doctor," I called, just before he left. He turned around, and looked at me. "Can I... Ask you a question...?" 

 

"Course you can," he smiled, and went to go pull up my chair, and sit beside the hammock that I was settled in.  

 

"Um... If I... Uh..." I sighed. "If I... Asked you to kill me, would you?" 

 

His eyes fractioned, "Where's this coming from?" I looked away, not saying anything. He sighed, "Auggie, I would never hurt you. Ever. Not even if you asked me to." 

 

"If I killed someone important, would you?" 

 

"Never." 

 

"Even if I..." I gulped, and my chest felt tight. "If I killed Rose?" 

 

I saw his eyes slowly widen, then darken, "Auggie, I know you wouldn't kill Rose. I know you wouldn't kill anyone." 

 

"I'm sorry," I turned away, "I never should've asked. Just... Forget about it..." I bit my lip until I tasted the metallic taste of blood, my eyes brimming with tears.  

 

I heard him walk over to me, and his cold lips press against my forehead. "It's okay," he assured. "I'm never, ever going to hurt you. I don't know who, or what, made you think that I would've, but I promise that I would never do so." 

 

I nodded, and he patted my head, "Get some sleep, kiddo." With that, he closed the door, and the lights in the room dimmed. I sighed, and stared at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to consume me.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

I stumbled down the hallway, I could hear the sounds of screaming children surrounding me. "HELP! PLEASE, HELP US!" They screamed in terror.  

 

I turned and raced towards the voices, "SAVE US, SAVE US!!" They screamed. The hallway seemed to stretch longer and longer with every step.  

 

After what seemed like hours, I finally made it to the door. I bent the metal inside, and unlocked the door. I swung it open with all my might to see children, chained to the wall. Blood pooling out if their bodies, and filled the floor to at least my ankles and rising. Their mangled bodies that were twisted at irregular angles made me want to throw up! 

 

I stared at the horrible scene, until I saw something flash in the corner of my eyes. I turned to see nothing but darkness. Suddenly, I heard something else and someone giggle. I turned to see nothing, again. 

 

Then the door slammed shut behind me and I gasped. I ran to the door, moving the metal, pulling on the handle, and it didn't budge. Another girlish giggle made me turn around, my back pressed against the door, my feet knee-deep in crimson red blood.  

 

Then I heard laughter, demented, ear-shattering laughter that echoed the room and filled my ears. My knees felt weak and I felt like I couldn't breath. The blood to my waist and I saw yellow-piecing eyes lurking in the shadows of the room that were gradually getting darker. 

 

I tried to move but my feet were stuck to the floor, as if something were grabbing onto it. I reluctantly sank my arm into the blood to pull at whatever was attached to my legs.  

 

When I finally came a loose, I pulled it out, and I gagged at the sight. It was a disembodied hand, still dripping with blood, a bit of dark red skin still attached that had small patches of a irregular green to it. I screamed, and threw it across the room.  

 

I began to freak out, I pulled at the arms on my ankles as hard as I could, trying not to throw up when I saw the disgusting disembodied limbs. The loud laughter only encouraged me to work faster, my hands were shaking, and I pushed against the door to get out while I worked.  

 

Finally, I got them all off and the door swung open, not wasting a second, I ran out of the room as fast as I could into the ever stretching hallway, taking turns left and right as I went. I heard the sound of rushing liquid behind me, and did not want to look to find out what it was.  

 

I took another turn and bumped into something that made me fall flat on my butt. "I found you," a eerie, threatening voice said. I looked up fearfully to see a man in a white coat, holding a button, "You know what happens next." 

 

I gasped, "NO! No please!!"  

 

His lips curled into a smirk, "You lose." As soon as those words left his mouth, my body was engulfed in a electrifying pain. I screamed and squeezed my eyes shut. I clawed at my throat where I knew the metal collar was, and where the electricity was coming from.  

 

Suddenly, it stopped, and my body felt like it was floating. "Wha--?" I  tried to say, but bubbles escaped from my mouth. I frowned, and pried my eyes open. I was in some kind of red... Haze. I tried to do something else, only to have more bubbles escape from my mouth. I frowned, was I underwater? Was I swimming? What was I swimming i-- 

 

My mind struck with realization and my eyes widened. I was swimming... In blood!  

 

Just as I thought that, a disembodied head floated across my vision. I watched it's blonde hair cover its face, and hesitantly reached my hand out to move it. I gasped, it was Rose's! Her mouth was agape, as if it were screaming, and her eyes a demonic red, there was no white in it.  

 

She's dead! I thought in horror, when suddenly, her eyes were filled with life, and her mouth moved. She turned to glare heavily at me, "WAKE UP!!" She hissed loudly. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

I shot up, my body covered with sweat. Before I could do anything, my body lost balance and I fell on the floor, butt first. I groaned, and lied on the ground, in pain, but didn't say anything. My hands were shaking, and my eyes felt heavy with tears. My mind was filled with terror and kept flashing back to the graphic dream.  

 

I sobbed into the blanket, wrapping my body up protectively in it, trying to calm myself down. Their laughter was still echoing through the room, and only seemed to get louder. 

 

Finally, I had enough. I kicked off the blankets and ran as fast as I could out of the room, and down the hallway. I twisted and turned through the halls, but the laughter only seemed to follow me where I went. I finally stopped at a TARDIS blue door with small, colorful dots that looked like the lights in the sky, what was it called? The Stairs? The Stares? The Stars... The Stars!!  

 

I knocked frantically on the door, trying to cover my ears from the evil, demonic laughter that filled it. I heard footsteps from the inside, and finally, after what seemed like forever, the door opened.  

 

It revealed a half-dressed Doctor, who was staring at me. He seemed to notice the tears that streaked down my cheeks and the way I clenched at my ears trying to stop the noise that invaded them. For some reason, when I saw him, the laughter stopped and was replaced by the soft humming of the TARDIS. 

 

Not a second later, he was on his knees, and held my head in his chest, "Shh... Shh..." He said as I sobbed into his bare chest. I wanted to stay there forever. He felt so... Warm. So different. I didn't understand why he felt like this, that made my chest swell, and my tears clear. I can't feel heat, or cold, so why do I feel like this when I'm with him? What is he doing to me? How is this possible?  

 

"Did you have a nightmare again?" He asked after my tears cleared up. I nodded, "Was it bad?" I nodded again.  

 

"I-I'm sorry," I tried to say. "I woke you up. I'm being," what did Mr. Jackson call it? "I'm being... Annoying..."  

 

He looked at me, "You're not being annoying! Who told you that you were annoying?" 

 

"Mr. Jackson used to say that when I had nightmares..." I murmured, fiddling with my gloves. 

 

"Listen to me: You're not annoying. Especially when you have nightmares or if you're scared!"  

 

I nodded weakly, "I'm sorry--" 

 

"There's no need to apologize," he said. "C'mon, let's go to bed." He lead me into his room. 

 

His room was much, much bigger than mines. The floor felt like grass, but it was silver and the walls were a dark red. There was also some sort of city... On the wall. It looked like I could walk right into it, but I knew it was a wall. In the center of the room was a huge bed and a small table beside it.  

 

I climbed in the large bed, "I'm sorry," I said, "I don't know why I came here. I was just really scared. I didn't know what to do and I didn't want to be by myself. I-I just--" 

 

"It's okay," he assured. "No need to apologize." 

 

I nodded, and we were silent for a few seconds. "How did you make the voices go away?" I suddenly asked.  

 

"What voices?" 

 

"The voices. The laughing. Sometimes, it'll just... Show up, and it won't go away until I calm down. But... When I looked at you, they disappeared. How did you do that?" 

 

He smiled, "When you love someone, you sometimes think that they'll protect you," he explained. "I think that you knew that I would help you, so there was nothing to be afraid of." Short pause, "Was the nightmare that bad?" I nodded. "Do you want to tell me about it?" 

 

"Will that... Make me feel better?" 

 

"Usually does," He admitted. 

 

I looked at him, then sighed. I told him my dream, from running down the hall, to the bleeding room, to the man electrocuting me, and finally, the one when I was drowning in blood.  

 

Once I got to 'drowning in blood', I began to cry again, remembering the horrific look on Rose's face. "I'm sorry, I just... I was really scared..." I murmured, trying to wipe the tears away. 

 

Suddenly, he hugged me again, I bit my lip tightly so I wouldn't start crying again, but I couldn't help it. I was so scared... What did that head mean? Would I kill Rose? I don't want to kill her! I don't want anyone else to die because of me!! 

 

"Hey, hey, calm down," the Doctor whispered soothingly in my ear. "I'm here now, okay? I'll keep the nightmares away." 

 

I looked at him, "How?" 

 

He smirked, "I'm sure a 900 year old Time Lord like me can stop small nightmares like that." I laughed softly, "It's okay now. You can go back to sleep." 

 

"But... If I have a nightmare...?" I frowned, I didn't want to have another nightmare, and accidentally set his bed on fire. 

 

"You won't have one. I'll make sure of it," he paused. "And if I see you having one, I promise to wake you up before it gets bad." 

 

I looked at him, "You promise?" 

 

"I promise." 

 

I nodded, and closed my eyes, after a few minutes of silence and leaning into the beating hearts of the Doctor lulled me back to sleep. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

He watched silently as her breathing changed from ragged to smooth, signaling her sleep. He sighed and began to stroke her braids carefully.  

 

He couldn't believe that she had had a dream like that... From the way she described it, it sent shivers down his spine.  

 

He sighed, and looked at her sleeping face that dug into his bare chest. Her lips were slightly parted, her eyes closed, her fist balled, but not clenched, and a peaceful expression on her face.  

 

He sighed again, she was such a beautiful girl. The way her eyes would light up when she discovered new things. The way she laughed when she found something funny. The way she was so innocent to the universe, yet she was tainted by its darkness. 

 

He frowned, he was being domestic, again! He needed to stop being so close to her, she was a child! He had a rule against this, didn't he?!  'No children on the TARDIS'! It was a very important rule, that he had put in place for a reason! He-- 

 

"Daddy," Augusta muttered in her sleep, cuddling closer to him. He stared at the girl, what? For 1 minute and 13.234 seconds, he stared at her, waiting for her to say something else, only to find her silent.  

 

He sighed, he would need to find her parents, that was a priority. To keep her from getting hurt was to keep her away, so finding her parents would be the best idea. 

 

August mumbled other incoherent words, and he sighed again, stroking her hair softly. He didn't want to see her to go, not yet... 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta.
> 
> Please do not copy.


	17. C H A P T E R  F I F T E E N

Chapter 16: 

Augusta's POV 

One month later, still no word from them, or from man that attacked me. My shoulder wound healed easily, and the Doctor, Rose, and I got very close. Saving planets seemed like a daily thing now. I was working on my reading as well, I even read my first book! I was so -- what did the Doctor say it was called? -- proud? Yeah, proud! It was about green eggs -- which, I didn't even know was possible to cook -- and some type of meat.  

 

Anyways, I also worked on some inventions, and almost blew up my room with one, so the Doctor took my tool belt for a week because of it.  

 

No episodes that I remembered has passed so far, since the last one we did was the one with Rose's dad.  

 

Also, my nightmares weren't as often as they usually were, and when I did have them, I would go to the Doctor's room, and sleep with him. I don't really know how he kept the nightmares away like that. It's probably a time lord thing, and I don't question it. If it keeps the nightmares away, then it's fine by me. 

 

Everything's been pretty fine, so far. At least, up until now. 

 

I was in my room, tinkering with one of my devices, when someone knocked on the door. "It's open," I called, not really wanting to get up from my spot. I saw the door slide open to reveal the Doctor, smiling at me. 

 

"Hey there," he grinned at me, "Whatcha doin'?" 

 

"Nothing much, just messing with stuff," I admitted. The Doctor didn't usually come in my room, so this was new. "Did you need something...?" 

 

"No, no. I just wanted to talk," he shrugged. "Can I sit?" He pointed to my hammock. 

 

"Yeah, sure," I nodded, and pulled up my spiny, comfy chair on wheels, and rolled over to him. "What did you want to talk about?" 

 

He leaned forward, folding his hands on his knees. "Tell me about your parents," he said.  

 

I blinked, "My parents?" 

 

"Yeah, your parents. Not the foster parents, your real ones." 

 

"Oh. Um... I didn't know them... I never really knew them, actually..." I frowned remembering that we were created, not born. Apparently, we were grown out of plastic circles dishes. I don't really know how that worked, but somehow, that made me. I always thought that all people were... Created like that. "Why do you want to know about my parents?"  

 

He leaned back, "I was just wondering... I have a time machine, and you've never met your parents. Wouldn't you like to see them?" 

 

"No," I said instantly. He looked at me, "I've never had a mom or dad before now and I'm fine. Why would I need one?" Besides, I'm not exactly from this universe, so it would be pretty impossible to find them anyway. 

 

He frowned, as if he didn't expect this kind of reaction, "Aren't you curious to find out who they are?" 

 

"No," I shook my head. "I don't need them, so why would I want see them?" 

 

"Don't think like that," he scolded lightly. "Everyone needs a mum. Even I had a mum at one point." 

 

"I still don't want to see mine's," I insisted, "Well, more like I... Can't..." 

 

He looked at me, "It doesn't matter if they're dead. Time machine, remember?" 

 

I shook my head, "I still can't do that. It's complicated Doctor, I'm sorry."  

 

"Don't you want a family?" He asked.  

 

I shrugged, "What do families do?"  

 

"They're domestic. They laugh together and talk together. They love each other and sometimes get into fights, but it all clears up later." 

 

I laughed, "Then I definitely don't need that!" I grinned lopsidedly at the Doctor, "You, Rose, and I already do that don't we? We laugh, talk, and love each other right? Why do I need a mom and dad if I have you two?" 

 

He rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah... But, don't you want someone to... Be a mum to you?" 

 

"What does 'being a mom' even mean?" 

 

"They... You know... Tuck you in bed, read you stories... Make you lunch, those kind of domestic things." 

 

I frowned, now confused, "You and Rose already do that." 

 

"Well, yeah, but don't you want a mum to do it too?" 

 

"You mean... You want me to want another person that acts like you and Rose?" He nodded, "I don't need them. I've got you and Rose, and I need to replace you two with a mom. You and Rose are the best moms I could possibly ask for!" I gave him a smile, and he chuckled.  

 

"Okay, I give up kiddo," he sighed, messed up my hair again. "Get dressed, we're going out soon." 

 

I nodded, "Okay!" And with that, he left, so I got into the bathroom and took a quick shower.  

 

Twenty minutes later, I was walking down the hall to the Console room when suddenly, everything shuddered. I fell near the wall, holding on as I felt the TARDIS fly through time and space. 

 

I rushed down the hall, hearing the Doctor's voice in the console room. "... red's camp," he said. "Oh, the misunderstandings. All those red alerts, all that dancing." 

 

I stumbled into the room just the Doctor moved to the console, typing something. "It's got a very basic flight computer -- I've hacked in, slaved the TARDIS. Where it goes, we go." He turned to me and grinned, "'Ello there, Auggie!"  

 

"Hey," I waved, leaning against the bar.  

 

"And how safe is it?" Rose asked. 

 

"Totally," he assured. A second later, part of the console exploded and I jumped, "Okay, reasonably," he corrected. "Should have said reasonably there." 

 

I frowned and turned to Rose, "What is he doing?" I asked as he moved around the TARDIS. This sounds familiar, it must be the 'Empty Child' episode! My favorite episode!! 

 

"Dunno," she shrugged. "Apparently, it's mauve so it must be important." Her voice held a sarcastic tone to it, but I frowned.  

 

"What's mauve?" 

 

"Color," she answered. "Kind of a light purple." 

 

I nodded as the Doctor began to shout again. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no!" He shouted, "It's jumping time tracks -- getting away from us." 

 

"What exactly is this thing?" Rose asked. 

 

"No idea," he answered. 

 

"Then, why are we chasing it?" 

 

"It's mauve and dangerous," he said. "And about 30 seconds from the centre of London." 

 

"Oh, great," I grinned, "We get to go to London again!" A few seconds later, we had landed, and I stood up, and bounced over to the door. 

 

"Do you know how long we can knock around space without having to bump into Earth?" He asked us as Rose and I stood outside.  

 

"Five days?" Rose guessed with a snicker, "Or is that just when we're out of milk?" 

 

"Of all the species in all the universe and it has to come out of a cow," he shook his head with a laugh. 

 

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something. I quickly turned there, but saw nothing, I frowned but turned back to the Doctor. "Must have come down somewhere quite close," the Doctor said as we began to walk. "Within a mile, anyway. And it can't have been more than a few weeks ago. Maybe a month." 

 

"A month!?" Rose exclaimed, "We were right behind it!" 

 

"It was jumping time tracks all over the place," the Doctor explained with a huff. "We're bound to be a little bit out. Do YOU wanna drive?" 

 

"Ooh! Can I drive?" I asked, and he messed up my hair.  

 

"We'll talk about it," he assured. 

 

"Yeah... how much is 'a little'?" Rose asked, with a slight frown. 

 

"A bit," he said. 

 

"Is that exactly a bit?" Rose rose and eyebrow. 

 

"Ish," he added. 

 

"What's the plan, then?" Rose asked, "Are you gonna do a scan for alien tech or something?" 

 

"Rose, it hit the middle of London with a very loud bang. I'm gonna ask," he flashed his physic paper, and I frowned.  

 

"It's blank," I said, looking at it. There were supposed to be writing on it, but it's blank. What...? 

 

"What are you talking about? It says," she leaned in. "Doctor John Smith, Ministry of Asteroids." 

 

"Physic paper tell you--" 

 

"Whatever you want it to," she interrupted. "I remember." 

 

"But its blank," I frowned, squinting my eyes at it. What's going on? I know its supposed to say something, but it says nothing...  

 

He looked at my frustrated face and put it away, "It's probably just... Messing up a bit," he shrugged.  

 

"Not very Spock, is it?" Rose teased, crossing her arms, "Just asking?" 

 

The Doctor walked over to a metal door, examining the lock, "Door -- music -- people," he said. "What d'you think?" 

 

"I think you should do a scan for alien tech," she suggested.  He took out his screwdriver and sonicked the lock. "Gimme some Spock! For once, would it kill ya?" 

 

He rolled his eyes, "Are you sure about that t-shirt?" He asked pointedly. I glance at her, she's wearing the red, white, and blue pattern tea-shirt. It kind of looks like small triangles. 

 

"Too early to say," she shrugged. "I'm taking it out for a spin." 

 

Suddenly a chill goes through the air, and I feel another person. "Mummy...?" A child-like, eerie voice says making me turn around. "Muuu-mmy?" 

 

"Come on if you're coming," the Doctor said, opening the lock. "Won't take a minute." The Doctor strolls inside, and I reluctantly follow. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

The room is full of people laughing and so singing and talking and dancing. My eyes widened at the amount of people, but even more by the sound. It's very loud, and kind of hurts my ears.  

  

Oblivious to my slightly pained expression, the Doctor goes into the crowd listening to the british lady sing. "For nobody else gave me the thrill," she sang. "When I have found I love you still, it had to be you, wonderful you..."  

 

This continued in for a few minutes, and I was confused about what she was singing about. I knew she had said 'love' a few times, but I didn't know that people would sing about love.  

 

I looked over to the Doctor, and gently pulled on his arm and he looked down at me. "Why does she keep saying love? Who is she saying that to?" I asked.  

 

He smiled at me, "Sometimes, people sing about how much, or how little, they love a person." 

 

I frowned, "People sing about not loving someone?"  

 

He gave me a small nod, "Yeah, it's a human thing." Before I could answer, the singer finished and the Doctor applauded her, then ran up, taking the microphone. "Excuse me, excuse me!" He said into the microphone, making it ring for a few seconds and I covered my ears.  

 

"Could I have everybody's attention just for a mo? Be very quick, eh... hello!" He waved cheerfully, and the room, obediently, falls silent, so he continues. "Eh... might seem like a stupid question, but has anything fallen from the sky recently?" 

 

The room is dead silent, you could hear a pin drop. Then, they break out into laughter, and I jumped, looking around.  Why were they laughing? For my favorite Doctor Who episode, I'm beginning to forget a few bits of it. 

 

The Doctor seems just as confused as I am, "Sorry, have I said something funny?" The crowd still laughs, "It's just, there's this thing I need to find. Would've fallen from the sky a couple of days ago." 

 

Suddenly, there are loud sirens and I visibly flinch, covering my ears. "Would've landed quite near here..." He continued as everyone filed out of the room. He looked at the ceiling, where the sound seemed to be coming from. "With a very loud..." His eyes trailed behind me. I looked to see a red poster planted on the wall. "... Bang..." He sighed, as if he were sad and I walk over to the poster, reading it. Well, at least trying to. 

 

"H-Hill... Thre... Mill, no will... S-se... Ser-rend... No... M... Wa-war-ming..." I frowned at my result. "Hill-ter will send no warming?"  

 

The Doctor grabbed my shoulder, "It's nothing, Auggie," he mumbled, "Forget you saw it." 

 

"What does that mean? What's Hill-ter?" 

 

"A bad, bad man," he mumbled. 

 

"Oh... Why did it say 'warming'?" I asked, "What warm--" I paused. "Warning. Hill-ter will send no warning!" 

 

"Auggie, its nothing," he assured, a bit of a firmness shown in her voice, but I didn't buy it. 

 

"What warning? What did Hill-ter do? Is-Is someone going to get--" 

 

"Augusta!" He shouted, his cold blue eyes set in a strict glare, and made me shrink back. "No more." 

 

Did I make him mad? Usually when I asked questions, he answered them. Was I being annoying? "I-I'm sorry," I murmured softly, definitely not wanting him to be mad at me. 

 

He sighed and pulled me close as we walked. I felt him kiss(as he called it) the top of my head, "It's okay. You didn't know any better," he said. 

 

I gave him soft nod and we made it outside the the alley. "Rose!" The Doctor shouted as we walked out, but the blonde was nowhere in sight. He and I jogged around the corner where the TARDIS was, and found nobody. Instead, there was a small black figure on top of a trashcan.  

 

He sighed and looked at it, "You know... one day. Just one day, maybe... I'm gonna meet someone who gets the whole 'don't wander off' thing." 

 

I walked over wearily, "What is that?" I murmured.  

 

"Hm? It's a cat. Never seen a cat before?" I shook my head. 

 

"I use to see these things outside, but I was never allowed to ask about them," I explained.  

 

He smiled at me, and pet it. It made a weird humming sound, moving into his hand. "What? How did you do that?" I asked. "Is there a button...?" 

 

He laughed, "It's a cat; you've just gotta..." He moved his hand over and rubbed its head. "... Go with it..." 

 

I nodded and went to go touch the cat-thing, but it hissed at me and jumped away. I frowned, a bit hurt, but before I could respond, the TARDIS began to ring.  

 

The Doctor looked at it, eyebrows furrowed and a frown on his face, "How can you be ringing? What's that about? Ringing?" He sonicked it, "What am I supposed to do with a ringing phone?" 

 

"Answer it?" I suggested, going over to touch it. Maybe I could trace the metal back and-- "Ow!" I shouted, holding my hand. The phone shocked me!  

 

"Don't answer it," A new voice said from around the corner. I turned around to see a girl, Nancy, watching us warily. "It's not for you." 

 

"And how do you know that?" The Doctor asked, taking the phone.  

 

"'Cos I do," she rolled her eyes. "And I'm tellin' ya - don't answer it." 

 

"Well, if you know so much, tell me this -- how can it be ringing?" He demanded turning back to the phone, "It's not even a real phone. It's not CONNECTED, it's not--"  

 

He turned back and Nancy had fled down the alley and away from sight. He turned to me and I shrugged. He hesitantly picked up the phone. "Hello?" He called, I hear cracking on the other end. "This is the Doctor speaking. How may I help you?" 

 

"Mummy?" A childish voice says from the other line, the same one from earlier.  

 

"Who is this?" The Doctor demanded, "Who is this speaking?" 

 

"Are you my mummy?" The child asked. 

 

"Who is this?" The Doctor growled. 

 

"Mummy?" 

 

"How did you RING here?" He exclaimed, "This isn't a real phone, it's not wired up to anything, it's--" 

 

"Mummy?" With that, the line goes silent, leaving us staring at the phone. The Doctor looked at me, who was frowning and holding my hand.  

 

"It shocked me," I murmured. They're no way it could've shocked me, even if the little boy was powering it, that had to be at least 10 or so volts. And even then, he could only use it to communicate, plus there was no way that he could've put electricity into the wiring and shock me!  

 

"Let me see," he said. I showed him my burnt glove, which held a small hole that showed my dark skin. It wasn't that bad, but still! I looked at the Doctor, a troubled expression on my face. He frowned as well, and poked his head in the TARDIS door, "Rose? Rose, are you in there?"  

 

The TARDIS was as empty as we left it, and Rose had been gone by now. Suddenly, there was a loud crashing noise behind us, and I jumped turning around. We exchanged looks and ran in the direction of the noise.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

"The planes are coming. Can't you hear them? Into the shelter. None of your nonsense, now MOVE it!" A lady yelled as she and two other people ran out of their house and into a box that led underground. The Doctor stood on a box, peering over the gate. "Come on, come on, get in there. Arthur! Arthur! Will you hurry up? Didn't you hear the sirens?" 

 

A short, big man came out of the house, a angry scowl on his face. "Middle of dinner, every night," he complained. "Bloomin' Germans," he glared at the sky, shaking his fist. "Don't you eat?" 

 

What's a ger-main? I thought to myself as the Doctor cracked a smile, "I can hear the planes!" The woman cried. 

 

"Don't you eat?!" He shouted again, walking over to the underground box.  

 

"Oh, keep your voice down, will ya?" The woman scolded, "There's an air raid!" She pushed the big-stomached man inside the box, "Get in... there's a war on." 

 

"I know there is--" we didn't hear the rest of the sentenced because the door closed and the latch locked. We watched silently as Nancy, the girl from earlier crept into the back door of the house and closed the door. 

 

When the door was closed securely, I turned to the Doctor. "What's german?" 

 

"It's a country," he answered. 

 

I nodded, "Is that where Hill-ter is from?"  

 

He froze and looked at me, "How did you know that?" 

 

I frowned, was he mad at me? "Oh, I just uhm thought that since you said that Rose is from London one time, 'german' must be a... Um, cou-try? And I know this is London, and the people are hiding from the airplanes... So, I was just guessed..." I rubbed the back of my neck my face feeling warm again and my stomach twisting. 

 

The Doctor smiled at me, "That was clever of you, putting two and two together like that." 

 

I squeezed my cheeks, hoping for them to stop feeling weird, and it didn't work, "Oh, uh, thank you...?" 

 

He gave me a weird look, "Why are you doing that to your cheeks?" 

 

"Oh, my cheeks keep feeling warm. I thought that there was something wrong with them," I shrugged.  

 

He laughed, "You mean you're blushing?" 

 

I frowned, "'Blushing'?" 

 

"Yeah, it happens when someone feels really happy or even when their embarrassed." 

 

"What's em-em-bar...?" I didn't even try to say the odd word. 

 

He patted me on the head, "Em-bare-assed," he sounded out the word. "It's when you feel really shy." 

 

Suddenly, there's a sharp whistle and I jumped in surprise. I looked around to see a bunch of kids running from the shadows and into the house.  

 

He grinned at me and began to walk into the house along with the rest of the kids. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

"It's GOT to be black market," one of the kids say, staring at the giant -- unidentified -- meat. "He couldn't get all this on coupons." 

 

"Ernie -- how many times? We are guests in this house," Nancy scolded. "We will not make comments of that kind. Washing up." 

 

"Oh, Nancy," the boy, Ernie, cried in -- apparently what the Doctor had said was -- embarrassment. 

 

Nancy's eyes skim around the table, finally settling on a small, dark-haired boy. "Haven't seen you at one of these before," she commented. 

 

He motioned to the boy beside him, "He told me about it." 

 

"Sleeping rough?" She asked. 

 

He nodded, "Yes miss." 

 

"All right then," she passed the plate of meat around the table. "One slice each, and I want to see everyone chewing properly." 

 

"Thank ya, miss!" The boy thanked, passing the plate. 

 

"Thanks, miss!" 

 

"Thank you miss!" 

 

"Thanks miss!" The Doctor thanked, giving it to me. 

 

"Thank you -- why do they call her miss?" I asked the Doctor. 

 

"That's what you call a woman who isn't married," he explained and I nodded. 

 

"Thank you, miss!" I passed the plate to the other child, who was staring at me in shock. I frowned, "What? What did I do?" 

 

Then, everyone jumped back, and my shoulders tensed, looking at them carefully. "It's all right!" Nancy cried, "Everybody stay where you are!" 

 

The Doctor looks at one of the kids, who's neat is hanging from his mouth limply. "Good here, innit?" He grinned, but the boy didn't answer, "Who's got the salt?" 

 

"Back in your seats!" Nancy ordered, "He shouldn't be here either." 

 

"So, you lot... what's the story?" He asked casually, helping himself to the red liquid, giving me some as well. 

 

"What d'you mean?" One of the boys asked carefully.  

 

"You're homeless, right? Living rough?" 

 

"Why d'you wanna know that?" Another demanded, "Are you a copper?" 

 

He scoffed, "Of course I'm not a copper. What's a copper gonna do with you lot anyway? Arrest you for starving?" Then, everyone laughed, the tension in the air is gone. I sighed and felt the Doctor rubbing circles in my hand to help me calm down. 

 

"I make it 1941," he continued. "You lot shouldn't be in London. You should've been evacuated to the country by now." 

 

"I was evacuated," one of the boys piped. "They sent me to a farm." 

 

"So why'd you come back?" The Doctor asked. 

 

"There was a man there..." He trails off, and I frowned.  

 

Before I could ask, one of the other kids scoffed, "Yeah, same with Ernie," he said mockingly. "Two homes ago." 

 

"Shut up," he looked away. "It's better on the streets anyway. Better food." He smiled a Nancy appreciately who smiled back. 

 

"Yeah. Nancy always gets the best food for us!" One of the other kids said. 

 

The Doctor smiled at Nancy, "So, that's what you do is it, Nancy?" 

 

"What is?" She frowned. 

 

"As soon as the sirens go, you find a big fat family meal," he explained. "Still warm on the table with everyone down in the air raid shelter and -- bingo! Feeding frenzy for the homeless kids of London Town. Puddings for all! As long as the bombs don't get you." 

 

"Something wrong with that?" She asked, her eyes narrowed. 

 

"Wrong with it? It's BRILLIANT," he exclaimed. "I'm not sure if it's Marxism in action or a West End musical." 

 

Everyone, including myself, looked at the Doctor confusedly. Then Nancy glared at him, "Why'd you follow me? What d'you want?" 

 

"I want to know how a phone that isn't a phone gets a phone call," he said, crossing his arms. "You seem to be the one to ask." 

 

"I did you a favor," she said seriously. "I told you not to answer it, that's all I'm telling ya." 

 

"Great, thanks. And I wanna find a blonde in a Union Jack," he said. "I mean a specific one, I didn't just wake up this morning with a craving." Everyone laughs, except for me and Nancy, since I don't really know what he meant by 'craving'. "Anybody seen a girl like that?" 

 

Nancy stood up, and took our plates away, "What've I done wrong?" The Doctor pouted indigently. 

 

"You took two slices," she said, and the children laughed again. "No blondes -- no flags. Anything else before you leave?" 

 

"Yeah, there is actually. Thanks for asking. Something I've been looking for, would've fallen from the sky about a month ago, but not a bomb," he took a notebook out of his jacket and begins to draw. "Not the usual kind anyway. Wouldn't have exploded. Would've just buried itself in the ground somewhere, and it would've looked something like... This." Nancy looked at the drawing intently, but doesn't say anything. 

 

Then, there is a knock on the window, and the children gasped. "Mummy?" The childish voice, the same one with the phone and the one in the alley says from outside. "Are you in there, mummy?" The Doctor pulled the curtain back, revealing the a child with a bulky mask on his face, knocking on the window. "Mummy?" 

 

"Who was the last one in?" Nancy said urgently, looking around the table. 

 

"Those two," one of them said, pointing to us. 

 

"Nah, he came round the back," she shook her head. "Who came in the front?" 

 

There was a short silence and I notice one of the kids face's go pale. "Me," his voice is no higher than a whisper, but Nancy heard it. 

 

"Did you close the door?" She asked. 

 

"I..." 

 

"Did you close the door?!" She demanded, raising her voice slightly. 

 

"Mummy?" The child says again, going to the door. "Mu-ummy?" 

 

Nancy races to the door and bolts it shut before he could get in. The Doctor and I are standing behind her. I was confused, something was going on, and I didn't remember what. I-I don't know why but, the child, I forget why he was so dangerous. This... This is weird... Why can't I remember...? 

 

"What's this, then?" The Doctor asked, arms crossed and leaning against the wall. "It's never easy being the only child left out in the cold, you know." 

 

"I suppose you'd know," she rolled her eyes. 

 

"I do actually, yes," he smiled at her. 

 

"It's not exactly a child," she frowned. 

 

"Mum-mmy," the child says, and Nancy runs into the room with the other kids and begins to usher them out. 

 

The Doctor watches for a few seconds, but I stood by the door, watching the child. "Mummy? Are you my mummy?" 

 

"I don't think so," I frowned. "You shocked me. How did you do that...?" 

 

The boy paused for a second, "You-you're not my mummy," I looked at the door, wide-eyed. "You're scary! Mummy! Mummy help!" 

 

I looked back at the Doctor, who's looking at me and the door, and walked over, as the child sticks his hand through the box in the door. "Mummy? Please let me in, the scary person is coming!" 

 

'Scary'? "Please let me in, Mummy." 

 

"Are you alright?" The Doctor asked. 

 

"Please let me in." Suddenly, there is a loud whooshing sound, and a vase crashing against the door, and the child withdrew his hand. I yelped in surprised and ducked down instinctively, waiting for something else to get thrown.  

 

"You mustn't let him touch ya!" Nancy warned. 

 

"What happens if he touches me?" The Doctor asked, helping me up, rubbing my arm to calm me down.  

 

"He'll make you like him," Nancy said. 

 

"And what's he like?" 

 

She hesitated and stepped away, "I've gotta go." 

 

"Nancy, what is he like?" He asked again, firmness shown in his voice. 

 

She looked at him, I could see a small bit of fear in her eyes, "He's empty." The phone on the desk rings, and we looked at it. "It's him. He can make phones ring, he can. Just like with that police box you saw." 

 

The Doctor turned to the door, where the shadow of the child was, and picked up the phone. "Are you my mummy?" The child's voice said through the phone.  

 

Nancy snatched the phone and slammed it back down, but then then the radio turns on. "Mummy? Please let me in, mummy." The Doctor turned the dial on the radio, but then the brown animal with golden circles in its hands springs to life. "Mummy? Muuum-my, muum-my..." 

 

The Doctor picked it up and looked at it. "Stay if you want to," Nancy said and left. 

 

"Mummy, mummy, mummy..." He said through the brown animal-thing. Then he stuck his hand through the small box again. I noticed a small, black scar on the back of it. "Mummy? Let me in please, mummy... Please let me in." 

 

The Doctor knelt in front of the door, a concerned look washed on his face, "Your mummy isn't here." 

 

The boy paused, "Are you my mummy?" 

 

"No mummies here. None be here but us chickens," he grinned to himself. 

 

"I'm scared," the boy said. "Is the scary-thing with you?" 

 

The Doctor glanced at me and then looked at the boy, "Why are those other child frightened of you?" He asked, not answering the child's question. 

 

"Please let me in, mummy," the child pleaded. "I'm scared of the bombs." 

 

The Doctor paused for a moment, thinking it over. "Okay. I'm opening the door now." The child pulled his hand out and the Doctor turned the lock on the door, opening it.  

 

The child is gone. 

 

We looked at each other, a frown on both our faces, and we silently walked out of the house and looked up and down the street, seeing no sign of a child. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

The Doctor and I were walking to the train tracks, my hands in my pockets but a frown on my face.  

 

The boy thought I was scary. Why? I remember that Rose, well, the Mini-human version of Rose, she thought I was scary too... Why do they think I'm scary? Was it something I did...? The Doctor said that younger children are slightly, what'd he call it, psy-chick? Psy-fic? Psy... Psy-something! Maybe they could sense my powers, and were scared...? I don't know, I'll have to ask the Doctor later... 

 

Finally, we made it to the train finding Nancy inside one of the rooms, looking through her bag, then she turned around to see us. "How'd you follow me here?" She demanded. 

 

"I'm good at following, me. Got the nose for it," he tapped his nose and grinned at her. 

 

"People can't usually follow me if I don't want them to," she said suspiciously. 

 

"My nose has special powers," he shrugged carelessly. 

 

"Yeah? That's why it's uh..." She trailed off. 

 

"What?" The Doctor frowned. 

 

"Nothing." 

 

"What?" 

 

"Nothing!" She insisted, yet a smile played at the end of her lips, "Do your ears have special powers too?" 

 

I rose and eyebrow and looked at the Doctor, why would his ears have special powers? Is it because they're so big? "What're you trying to say?" He asked calmly. 

 

Her smile fell, "Goodnight, Mister," She turned away. 

 

"Nancy," he called behind her. "There's something chasing you and the other kids. Looks like a boy and it isn't a boy, and it started about a month ago, right?" Nancy turned back to him, a stern look on her face. 

 

"The thing I'm looking for," he continued. "The thing that fell from the sky, that's when it landed. And you know what I'm talking about, don't you?" 

 

"There was a bomb," she sighed. "A bomb that wasn't a bomb. Fell the other end of Limehouse Green Station." 

 

"Take us there," he ordered, but she shook her head, no. 

 

"There's soldiers guarding it," she explained. "Barbed wire... you'll never get through." 

 

"Try me!" 

 

"You sure you wanna know what's going on in there?" She asked, a serious look on her face. 

 

"I really wanna know." 

 

"Then there's someone you need to talk to first," she gathered her things. 

 

"And who might that be?" He wondered, as she walked out the door. 

 

"The Doctor," she answered, and his eyebrows furrowed and he laughed, following her. 

 

As we were silently walking to this 'doctor' something clicked in my head. I pulled on the Doctor's arm and he looked at me, "Yeah? What is it?" 

 

"I just remembered something. About the little boy," I said, and he frowned. 

 

"What?" 

 

I pulled his hand out of his pocket, and showed it to him. "Your hand is pink and changes colors, right?"  

 

"Yeah, that's 'cause I'm alive," he answered, not seeing where this was going. 

 

"The little boy. His hand wasn't... Pink. It was pale... Like the color when your dead. That kind of pale," I tried to explain. 

 

The Doctor nodded, "You think the boy's actually dead?" 

 

"I don't know," I shrugged, "He just looked different." He also smelt like a dead person would, but I'm wasn't exactly positive on that one, so I don't exactly know... 

 

The Doctor nodded, "Okay... I'll keep thinking about that then," he messed up my hair again, and I smiled softly. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

We're still pretty far from the supposed bomb site. The Doctor has, what he called, binoculars on his eyes, looking through them. Finally, he handed them to me, as Nancy started talking.  

 

"The bomb's under that tarpaulin," she said. "They put the fence up over night. See that building? The hospital." 

 

I tried to mimic the way the Doctor had looked through it, which is really hard and not really working. I huffed at the odd device and the Doctor looked at me, laughed, and then turned the binoculars around. 

 

"You're looking through them wrong," he explained with another laugh. I frowned but looked through them anyway, this time it's slightly less confusing then the last time. "What about it?" He asked and I finally gave up and just gave him back the stupid device. 

 

"That's where the doctor is," she explained, and the Doctor looked back through the binoculars. "You should talk to him." 

 

"For now, I'm more interested in getting in there," he motioned to the area that looked much more packed and crawling with people with guns in their hands. 

 

"Talk to the doctor first," Nancy ordered. 

 

"Why?" 

 

"'Cos then maybe you won't wanna get inside," she answered and began up the steps, away from where she wanted us to go.  

 

"Where are you going?" The Doctor asked, still looking through the stupid binoculars. 

 

"There was a lot of food in that house. I've got mouths to feed," she said, not stopping. "Should be safe enough now." 

 

"Can I ask you a question? Who did you lose?" The Doctor asked causally, but Nancy stopped in her tracks. 

 

"What?" 

 

The Doctor finally lowered his binoculars and turned to her, "The way you look after all those kids. It's 'cos you lost somebody, isn't it? You're doing all this to make up for it." 

 

"My little brother. Jamie," she answered, and my eyes fractioned. "One night I went out looking for food. Same night that thing fell. I told him not to follow me -- told him it was dangerous, but he just... he just didn't like being on his own." 

 

"What happened?" I asked her, my mouth turned in a frown.  

 

"In the middle of an air raid? What do you THINK happened?" She answered harshly, I looked away, still confused, but not asking anymore. 

 

The Doctor nodded, then he smiled, "Amazing..." 

 

"What is?" 

 

"1941," he answered as the planes went by overhead again, loudly. I cringed at the noise, but didn't say anything as the Doctor continued, "Right now, not very far from here, a German war machine is rolling up the map of Europe. Country after country, falling like dominoes. Nothing can stop it. Nothing. Until one, tiny, damp little island says 'no'. 'No'. Not here. A mouse in front of a lion." 

 

He looked at Nancy, a large smile on his face, "You're amazing, the lot of you," he praised her. "Dunno what you do to Hitler, but you frighten the hell out of me. Off you go then... Do what you've gotta do. Save the world." 

 

With that, he went down the steps, but I didn't go just yet. I ran up to Nancy and gave her what the Doctor called a hug. She stood there, shock and not moving. "I-I don't know much about this-this hugging thing, but... You're really -- what did Rose call it? -- ... Brilliant? Yeah, that's it, brilliant. You're helping kids when no one else would... I think that that's really... Uhm, what's the word? Fan-fantastic...?" After that, I quickly pulled away and joined the Doctor down the steps. 

 

He pulled me into his side and messed up my hair. "Did I do the hugging thing right?" I asked, and he laughed. 

 

"You did it perfectly," he grinned at me, and I gave him a small smile. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

After -- illegally -- entering the hospital, we silently searched through the rooms, they were all dark, except for one at the end of the hall, which had a small light shining inside. So, the Doctor and I decided to go into it. 

 

We entered the room finding several people lying on the bed, with gas masks on, identical to the little boy's. I frowned, went over to the bed, staring at the body.  

 

Their faces looked pale, at least from what I could tell from the side of the mask, that seemed to fuse with their skin. From the neck below, there was a thin white blanket covering their bodies. I looked at the Doctor, who was examining the body beside the one I was at. 

 

Then I heard footsteps, and I whipped my head around. seeing a man. He wore a white coat and had a stick in his hand, "You'll find them everywhere," he said, making the Doctor turn as well. "Every bed in every ward. Hundreds of them." 

 

"Yes, I saw. Why are they still wearing gas masks?" The Doctor asked, stepping away from the body. 

 

"They're not," he replied. "Who are you?" 

 

"I'm the..." He stopped himself, "Are you the doctor?" 

 

"Doctor Constantine," he nodded. "And you are...?" 

 

"Nancy sent me," the Doctor answers, which is seemingly fine for Doctor Constantine, because he nods. 

 

"And you are, little one?" He smiled at me, but I frowned. 

 

"Augusta," I answered, staring at him warily.  

 

He nodded again, "Nancy called you over? That means you must've been asking about the bomb." 

 

"Yes." 

 

"What do you know about it?" Constantine asked. 

 

"Nothing. Why I was asking. What do you know?" 

 

"Only what it's done." 

 

"These people -- were they all caught up in the blast?" 

 

"None of them were," he laughed slightly, which turned into a whooping cough. My eyes widen when I smell the distinct scent of blood. He moves to sit down in the chair beside him, and doesn't stop coughing for a few minutes. 

 

"You're very sick," the Doctor dully notes once he finished. 

 

"Dying, I should think -- I just haven't been able to find the time," he explained, waving a hand carelessly, as if he wasn't talking about his lethal condition. "Are you a doctor?" 

 

"I have my moments." 

 

"Have you examined any of them, yet?" 

 

The Doctor shook his head slightly, "No." 

 

"Don't touch the flesh," he warned. 

 

"Which one?" 

 

"Any one." 

 

The Doctor rose an eyebrow but walked over to the body anyway. I watched closely as he ran the sonic over their bodies. "Conclusions?" Constantine asked after a few minutes. 

 

"Massive head trauma, mostly to the left side..." He answered, still moving the sonic. "Partial collapse of the chest cavity, mostly to the right. There's some scarring on the back of the hand and the gas mask seems to be fused to the flesh but I can't see any burns." 

 

"Examine another one." 

 

The Doctor runs it over another body, whose gas mask is fused to their skin as well. "This isn't possible." 

 

"Examine another one." 

 

He hurried to another bed, and did the same, "This isn't possible!" 

 

"No," Constantine answered. 

 

"They've all got the same injuries!" 

 

"Yes." 

 

"Exactly the same." 

 

"Yes." 

 

"Identical, all of them. Right down to the scar on the back of the hand," he looked at Constantine. "How did this happen? How did it start?" 

 

"When that bomb dropped, there was just one victim," he explained. 

 

"Dead?" 

 

"At first," he took a deep breath. "His injuries were truly dreadful. By the following morning, every doctor and nurse who had treated him - who had touched him - had those exact same injuries. By the morning after that, every patient in the same ward had the exact same injuries. Within a week, the entire hospital. Physical injuries - as plague. Can you explain that? What would you say was the cause of death?" 

 

"The head trauma." 

 

"No." 

 

"Asphyxiation." 

 

"No." 

 

"The collapse of the chest cavity--" 

 

"No." 

 

"All right. What was the cause of death?" 

 

"There wasn't one," he said. I frowned, they're not dead? But I can't feel any heartbeats. "They're not dead." 

 

He hit his stick on the trash can and all bodies rose simultaneously, making me jump. I looked around, they were all sitting straight up, but none of them were alive. This-this isn't right... 

 

"It's all right. They're harmless," he said. "They just... sort of, sit there. No heartbeat, no life signs of any kind. They just... don't die." 

 

"And they've just been left here? Nobody's DOING anything?" The Doctor demanded as the bodies slowly lied down again.  

 

"I try and make them comfortable, what else is there?" Constantine half-shrugged. 

 

"Just you? You're the only one here?" 

 

"Before this war began, I was a father and a grandfather," he explained. "Now I am neither. But I am still a doctor." 

 

"Yeah," the Doctor sighed, as if he understood him. "Know the feeling," I blinked, was he talking about the Time War? Was he a grandfather before he destroyed Gallifrey? 

 

"I suspect the plan is to blow up the hospital and blame it on a German bomb," Constantine sighed. 

 

The Doctor looked around, "Probably too late." 

 

"No. They are isolated cases, but... isolated cases breaking out all over London..." He begins to cough heavily again, and the Doctor moved closer to help him, but I stayed where I was, hesitantly watching them. 

 

"Stay back, stay back," he coughs. "Listen to me... top floor. Room 802, that's where they took the first victim - the one from the crash site. And you must find Nancy again." 

 

He frowned, but didn't move, "Nancy?" 

 

"It was her brother. She knows more than she's saying. She won't tell me, but she mi-- mi--" he gagged and clutched his throat tightly. I grabbed the Doctor's hand firmly and watched as he says, "M... mu... mee... Are... you... my... mum-my?" 

 

We watched in horror as a gas mask begins to form out of his eyes and through his skin. There is a hint of gild dust around his body as he goes limp. 

 

"Hello?" There was a voice down the hall, Rose's voice! She was here! 

 

"Hello?" Someone else said, a unfamiliar male's voice.  

 

"Hello?" The Doctor called, going to the hallway, and I slowly followed after. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

"Good evening," a new man said, entering the hallway with us. "Hope I'm not interrupting -- Jack Harkness." He shook the Doctor's hand, who only rose an eyebrow, "I've been hearing all about you on the way over." 

 

"He knows. I had to tell him about us being Time Agents," Rose said, and smiled at me, and the Doctor nodded. 

 

"And it's a real pleasure to meet you, Mr Spock," he patted the Doctor's shoulder, his sleeve moving up while doing so. My eyes widened as I caught a glimpse of a Vortex Manipulator on his arm, identical to the one that that man who attacked me had.  

 

The Doctor and Rose start talking, but I followed the man, Jack Harkness, down hall. He turned around and saw me, "Hmm? What do you need, ki--" 

 

I grabbed his arm and pulled up his sleeve revealing the Vortex Manipulator. My face steeled, "Where did you get this?" I demanded, it was exactly the same as his! 

 

"What? My Vortex Manipulator?" He frowned at me, "Why do you want to know?"  

 

"Are you with them?" I demanded, glaring at him.  

 

He snatched his arm back, "Look kid, I don't know who, or what, you're talking about, but if its a vortex manipulator you want then--" 

 

"No!" I hissed, "I want to know where you got this from. Are you with them?" 

 

"Who's them?" He rose an eyebrow. 

 

I frowned at him, "You're not...?"  

 

"I have no clue what you're talking about!"  

 

I frowned and backed off from him just as Rose came over. "What are you two doing over here?" He asked with a mischievous grin. 

 

I forced a smile at her, "Nothing, I just wanted to ask him a question." 

 

She laughed and messed up my hair, "Well, come on. Doctor has something important to show us."  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

"This just isn't possible," Jack exclaimed, scanning the body on the bed. Rose, the Doctor and I were standing away as he moved from bed to bed, checking the bodies, similar to how the Doctor had done. "How could this happen?" 

 

"What kind of Chula ship landed here?" The Doctor suddenly asked, and Jack turned around to look at him. 

 

"What?" 

 

"He said it was a warship," Rose explained, her arms crossed over her chest. "He stole it. Parked it somewhere out there, somewhere a bomb's gonna fall on it -- unless WE make him an offer." 

 

"What kind of warship?" The Doctor asked again, and Jack's features turned from confused to agitated. 

 

"Does it matter? It's got nothing to do with this!" 

 

"This started at the bomb site," the Doctor shouted angrily. I jumped slightly at the tone of his voice, and involuntarily took a step back. He was angry? Did I do something? "It's got EVERYTHING to do with it. What kind of warship?" 

 

"An ambulance!" Jack shouted. Then he sighed and pulled out his vortex manipulator. "Look." A picture of a bulky cylinder projected from the device. I looked at the picture, then at his device, interesting... 

 

"That's what you chased through the Time Vortex," he explained, "It's space junk. I wanted to kid you it was valuable. It's empty. I made sure of it. Nothing but a shell. I threw it at you. Saw your time travel vehicle -- love the retro look, by the way, nice panels -- threw you the bait--" 

 

"Bait?" Rose interrupted. 

 

"I wanted to sell it to you and then destroy it before you found out it was junk," he explained, turning his watch off.  

 

"You said it was a war ship," Rose frowned. 

 

"They have ambulances in wars," he glared lightly and walked away, running his fingers through his hair. "It was a con. I was conning you - that's what I am, I'm a con man. I thought you were Time Agents but you're not, are you?" 

 

"Just a couple more free-lancers," Rose smirked. 

 

"Ahh... should've known," he rolled his eyes. "The way you guys are blending in with the local color -- I mean, Flag Girl was bad enough, but U-Boat Captain and his little munchkin accomplice?" 

 

My eyebrow twitched angrily at the word, "I'm not a munchkin..." 

 

"Tell me that when you're taller," he scoffed and I glared at him. "Anyway... whatever is happening here has got NOTHING to do with that ship." 

 

Rose looked around, "What IS happening here, Doctor?" 

 

"Human DNA's being rewritten..." He scowled. "By an idiot," he added, earning a glare from Harkness. 

 

"What d'you mean?" Rose asked, peering at the bodies. 

 

"I dunno -- some kind of virus. It's converting human beings into these things," he nodded towards the bodies. "But why? What's the point?" 

 

Suddenly, I get a really bad feeling about this. Something definitely isn't right. "Doctor," I spoke up, "We-we should get out of here..." 

 

"Hmm? Why's that?" He asked, not looking at me. 

 

"I don't know, I..." I closed my eyes shut. Why couldn't I remember? I remembered everything about the episodes, so... Why? Whenever I think about it, it just feels... Foggy? Like something-- someone holding it-- me back. I don't, no I can't remember it.  

 

"Auggie? Are you okay?" The Doctor asked, looking at me. Concern spread on his features. I caught a glance at Rose, who was peering over at the body. I gasped, Rose's in danger! 

 

"Rose!" I shouted, jumping over to her, before she could say anything, I pulled her away just as the body shot up.  

 

"Mummy?" The bodies began to mumble, moving to stand up in their beds. "Mummmy..." 

 

"Don't let them touch you," the Doctor warned as they began to close in.  

 

"What happens if they touch us?" Rose hesitantly asked. 

 

"You're looking at it," he answered as they moved forward, chanting 'mummy' repeatedly. 

 

They were on all of our sides, circling us completely. Then, the Doctor glared at them, "Go to your room." He said. and all the gas-mask-people hesitated. "Go to your room!" He shouted, and all the gas people cocked their head to the side.  

 

I stiffened, he was angry! Why-- no. He wasn't angry at me. But that voice-- that tone of his voice! It's-it's-- why did I scare me? What did it-- 

 

"I mean it! I am very, very angry with you," the Doctor shouted, and my eyes went wide. "I am very, VERY cross! Go - to - your - ROOM!" 

 

I almost gasped, it was when I was there, with them! It was him, the man in the white coat. He-he was always angry at me... 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

"Now, I am very cross with you," he would say, his hard shoes clanking across the stone flooring. I cowered at his voice. He was back, I knew he was going to come back! He was going to punish me, he was cross with me! 

 

"I-I-I'm so-sorry," I stammered, trying to move away from the white-coated man, but with my hands chained tightly to the stone wall, I wasn't going anywhere.  

 

"You almost died today," he continued, striding over to my trembling body. "You almost made us start this entire testing all over again." 

 

"I'm-I'm-I'm sorry," I apologized, "I'll-I'll try not to die again,  I'm-I'm s-s-s-sorry! Pl-please d-don't pu-punish m-m-me!" 

 

He smirked and moved in front of my face, grabbing my face in-between his tight fingers. "Now, now," he grinned as I tried to move away. "You must learn from your mistakes, right?" A tear escaped my eye, and he swiped it away. "How else to do that than with punishment?"  

 

My eyes shone with fear as he snapped his fingers, someone entered the room, carrying a tray. I saw a black, metal collar and a remote with a button. My breathing intensifies as the other man took the black collar and wrapped it around my neck tightly. I struggled away, but he was able to clamp it, and turn it on.  

 

"Please," I sobbed as the man took the black remote flipping it in his hand. "Please, I-I'm sorry! I won't do it again! I just-- please don't puni--" 

 

"Gag it," he interrupted me. "I do hate it when they scream. It gives me the worst of migraines..." 

 

"Plea--" my pleads were cut off by a cloth being tightly wrapped around my throat.  

 

"That's much better," he grinned his pearly white, devilish teeth. "Now, why am I doing this again?" When I muffled through the gag, he chuckled. "Right. Let me repeat myself:  You've been really bad and I am very, very angry with you," his fingers hovered over the button and I gasped through my tears.  

 

"Remember, Subject August.23," he said. At this point, I was gasping for the air that left my lungs with every gasp. "This is for your own good." My body filled with pain.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta.
> 
> Please do not copy.


	18. C H A P T E R  S I X T E E N

Chapter 17: 

Augusta's POV  

"Auggie," the Doctor said, turning to me. My body was trembling, and my face was frozen in shock. "Auggie! Auggie, are you--" 

 

"Stop," I whispered. The Doctor crouched down in front of me, and I gasped, moving back. "No, I-I... I'm sorry, I--" it became hard to breathe, my eyes widened and I clawed at my throat. 

 

"Auggie! Auggie, calm down! Calm down!" He said. "You're having another attack, calm down." 

 

"I-I-I-I," I stammered, "I'm sorry, I won't do it again, I--" 

 

"What's wrong with her?" Jack asked, stepping over. I yelped and stepped back, my hands covering my ears, they were laughing again, they were laughing! I can hear it, it's coming from the walls! It's in the room! They're in the room! They're coming to punish me! 

 

"I'm so sorry," I cried, tears falling out of my eyes. "I-I-I--" 

 

"Hey, hey," the Doctor said, his voice really calm and soothing. I stopped and looked at him, "It's okay. No need to apologize. You didn't do anything wrong." 

 

I stared at him for a few seconds, "They're coming," I murmured, trying to slow my breathing. "Th-they're coming and--" 

 

"Nobody's coming," he insisted. He took a step closer, and I stayed where I was, watching him. He knelt down to my level and smiled at me, "It's going to be okay," he promised, taking my hand away from my hair and holding it. "Are you okay now?" He asked when I had began breathing normally. I gave him a small nod, but my hands were still shaking slightly. 

 

"Good," he nodded and messed up my hair. 

 

"Sorry," I murmured, looking at my feet. "I didn't mean to act like that, I just-- what you said... It reminded me of something and--" 

 

"Hey," he smiled at me. "S'okay. You were scared. It's okay now." 

 

I numbly nodded, standing back up. "I'm sorry..." 

 

"It's okay," he smiled. "Why don't you go sit down while I-we check over the bodies?" He suggested and motioned to the empty chair beside a table.  

 

I nodded obediently and silently sat down at the table, while the trio talked about the 'dead' bodies. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

As Auggie went to go sit down, he pulled Rose aside, "What is it?" She asked. 

 

"What do you think set her off?" He asked her in a hushed tone to keep the other two from hearing them. 

 

"Uh... Probably when you scolded the gasmask-people like they were kids, why?"  

 

He sighed, "Why would me scolding someone else cause her to have a panic attack?" He wondered out loud. 

 

"You said that she was from a abusive home, right?" Rose asked, and he gave her a slight nod. "Then, maybe it's that. She's probably afraid of being scolded or something." 

 

He frowned, shaking his head, "No. That wasn't it. I scolded her for blowing up her room just last week and she didn't have a bloody panic attack," he sighed. "It's something else. Something else triggered it. Before she was in that kind of home." 

 

Rose looked confused, "Wait, where was she before she was in the abusive home?" 

 

He grimaced, he didn't want to tell Rose how she told him that she was experimented on, but she would need to know either way. "She told me that before she was in her foster home, she was experimented on," he explained, and Rose's jaw dropped. 

 

"She was what?!" 

 

"Experimented on," he repeated with a slight growl in his voice. "Used as a lab rat. Hurt. Tortured even," he glanced at the girl, who was swinging her legs off the end of the chair numbly, pity hinted in his eyes. "Rose, I don't even think she was actually born." 

 

"What do you mean by that?" She crossed her arms over her chest. 

 

"I asked her a few weeks ago if she wanted to meet her parents, but she refused to," he explained. "She didn't know what a mother was. Even if she was taken from her birth-mother when she was born, she would still have a slightly psychic link and would understand the basic concepts of a mother." 

 

"What are you trying to say?" She frowned. 

 

"She's probably been experimented on before birth," he saId. "She was born in a petri dish!" 

 

Rose stared at him for a few seconds, "When we first met her, you said that she wasn't human?"  

 

"She's not," he answered. "The scan showed that she was 48% human. 52% of it was unidentifiable." 

 

"Okay, so if she wasn't born, and was experimented on..." She looked over at the girl, who was oblivious to their stares.  

 

"Then, what is she?" 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV  

"Why are they all wearing gas masks?" Rose asked, sitting on a bed, looking at one of the gasmask-people, as she had began to call them. 

 

"They're not," Jack corrected. "Those masks are flesh and bone." He was settled in the chair I used to be in. I was standing near the wall, beside the Doctor, where, after that  panic attack and hearing the voice again, I felt safest. 

 

"How was your con supposed to work?" The Doctor asked Jack, who simply shrugged. 

 

"Simple enough, really," he answered. "Find some harmless piece of space-junk... let the nearest Time Agent track it back to Earth. Convince him it's valuable, name a price. When he's put 50% up front - oops! A German bomb falls on it, destroys it forever. He never gets to see what he's paid for. Never knows he's been had. I buy him a drink with his own money, and we discuss dumb luck. The perfect self-cleaning con." 

 

"Yeah. Perfect," the Doctor rolled his eyes. 

 

"The London Blitz is great for self-cleaners," he defended himself. "Pompeii's nice if you want to make a vacation of it though, but you've got to set your alarm for volcano day." He laughed as though he made a joke, but I frowned, since I didn't understand. The Doctor didn't seem to like this either, because he stared pointedly at Jack, who stops laughing. "Getting a hint of disapproval..." 

 

"Take a look around the room " the Doctor said. "This is what your 'harmless piece of space-junk' did." 

 

"It was a burnt-out medical transporter," he explained for the tenth time. "It was empty!" 

 

The Doctor glared darkly at him, before walking off and to Rose. I stayed near the wall, watching the bodies. The golden hue seemed to radiate off their bodies, which was very... Weird. I've seen this before, I just can't place it. 

 

"... Auggie, we're leaving," the Doctor shouted. I nodded and walked over. 

 

Jack got up too, desperation shone on his face. "I even programmed the flight computer so it wouldn't land on anything living -- I harmed no-one!" He exclaimed, following us, "I don't know what's happening here, but believe me -- I had nothing to do with it." 

 

"I'll tell you what's happening," the Doctor growled. "You forgot to set your alarm clock. It's volcano day." 

 

A loud siren goes off, and I cringed slightly, rubbing my ear. That with the one from earlier... Ugh, I was going to get a headache... 

 

"What's that?" Rose asked, (oddly) looking around the ceiling. 

 

"The all-clear," Jack explained, but the Doctor merely a scoffed. 

 

"I wish." 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Rose, Jack and I ran down the hallway, looking for the Doctor, who went to go scout ahead. "Mr. Spock?" Jack called. 

 

"Doctor?" Rose called after him, passing a flight of stairs. I stopped and sniffed, then turned towards the stairs just as he popped his head out from the banister. 

 

"Have you got a blaster?" The Doctor asked, Rose and Jack stopped in their tracks, and backing up. 

 

"Sure!" Jack said as they ran up the stairs, standing outside a door. 

 

"The night your space-junk landed, someone was hurt " the Doctor explained once we were all upstairs. "This was where they were taken." 

 

"There's nobody inside," I noted to the Doctor, who nodded. 

 

"What happened?" Rose asked. 

 

"Let's find out," he grinned. "Get it open." 

 

Jack grinned and pointed his gun at the door, I watched as the lock on the door disappeared. "Squareness gun," I murmured, making Jack turn to me. 

 

"Yep," he grinned. "How'd you know that? You fancy sonic technology?" 

 

I frowned, "How did I know what?" 

 

"That this was a squareness gun," he answered, and I rose and eyebrow. 

 

"I never said anything about a squareness gun..." I pushed the door open, walking through the dimly lit room, switching the light on. There were two separate rooms, divided by a wall with a glass layer with a shattered hole in it. Inside was a small room with a bed and colored drawings tacked on the wall.  

 

In the bigger room held a few overturned chairs, stuff all over the floor, and a tanned brown machine with buttons on the desk. "Sonic blaster, 51st century," the Doctor said to Jack as I looked around the room. "Weapon Factories of Villengard?" 

 

"You've been to the factories?" Jack asked as I looked around the room. I'm getting a bad feeling... There is something not right... Something in this room isn't... Right. 

 

"What d'you think?" The Doctor asked, walking around the room. 

 

"Something got out of here..." Jack commented, kicking a sheet of paper. 

 

"Yeah. And?"  

 

"Something powerful. Angry." 

 

"Powerful and angry." 

 

I silently walked into the room seeing much more paintings on the wall, covering the entire thing. There were toys(?) here and there on the ground and a small bed. I noticed that the bed was messed up. The covers were nearly on the floor, the pillow slightly tore.  

 

I blinked, and picked up the pillow, sniffing it. It smelled salty. Tears. It smelled like tears. 

 

"Auggie, you okay?" The Doctor asked and I whipped my head around, looking at him. 

 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," I nodded. "I-I'm okay." 

 

He gave me a weird look, "Okay," he nodded, and walked out of the room.  

 

"A child?" Jack says, entering the room too. "I suppose this explains 'mummy'." 

 

"How could a child do this?" Rose asked, looking at the drawings. 

 

The Doctor didn't answer. Instead, he pressed a button on a box making the voice of Doctor Constantine emit from it. "Do you know where you are?" He asked. 

 

"Are you my mummy?" The box said, and Rose's eyes fractioned. 

 

"Are you aware of what's around you?" He continued, "Can you... see?" 

 

"Are you my mummy?" The boy asked again.  

 

"What do you want? Do you know--" 

 

"I want my mummy," he demanded. "Are you my mummy? I want my mummy! Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy? Mummy? Mummy?" 

 

"Doctor, I've heard this voice before," Rose said, looking at the wall covered in drawing, each one resembling a woman. 

 

"Me too," he agreed. 

 

"Mummy?" The boy called, again. 

 

"Always, 'are you my mummy'?" Rose said, gently touching the wall. "Like he doesn't know." 

 

"Mummy?" 

 

"Why doesn't he know?" She turned to the Doctor. 

 

"Are you there, mummy? Mummy?" 

 

I sighed and looked around the room, something was really, really, really wrong here. I can't exactly place it, but I know it's there. I know... I know HE'S there! 

 

 I quickly turned around, to see the man in the black coat leaning against the wall, a smirk proudly placed on his face. My eyes narrowed and I went over to stand beside him, "What the hell do you want this time?" I demanded in a whisper-tone.  

 

"Only to talk," he answered, and I glared at him. "I wouldn't kill you in front of the Oncoming Storm. I am not a fool." 

 

A growl rose in my throat and I crossed my arms over my chest, "I didn't see you. Why didn't I see you?" 

 

"Since our last... Exchange, I made a mistake. I should've killed you on the spot. Instead, my anger got ahold of me and I let you suffer as a monster. They didn't like that, so they gave me a few... Adjustments in order to kill you properly. When the time comes, of course." 

 

"You're not killing anyone," I hissed. "You have a vortex manipulator! Go, teleport away!" 

 

"Oh, but don't you want to know why you can't remember this episode, little Monster?" He asked smugly, and I stiffened. 

 

"You're the reason why...?" 

 

"Of course I am," he rolled his eyes. "Like I said, I was given a few adjustments. Upgrades if you will." 

 

"Okay, so you're getting in my mind, and messing with my memories," I frowned. "What else can you screw up?" 

 

"Now why would I tell you that?" He grinned, "That just ruins the enjoyment in your mental torture." 

 

I frowned, "Tor--" 

 

"Auggie, who are you talkin' to?" Rose asked, making me shoot my head up. 

 

"Nobody," I answered. "Just... Thinking out loud is all." 

 

She chuckled and continued to talk to the Doctor, and I subtly glared at him.  

 

"It must hurt.." he said, making me raise and eyebrow. "... To be a monster," he finished, and I glared harder at him. 

 

"I'm not--" 

 

"To be feared by everyone, and scared to hurt people you love just by touching them." 

 

"St--" 

 

"You want to help, that's why you use your information from the other universe. That's why you stay with the Time Lord in his blue TARDIS." 

 

"Stop i--" 

 

"You wake up crying from the lives that you've taken. To look at your hands only to see them soaked in blood. To live in constant fear that someone close's blood might be added to that." 

 

"No, stop, I--" 

 

"Tell me, Subject August.23," he grinned maliciously at me. "Do you look forward to when you are going to kill the Time Lord and that human with your own hands?" 

 

"Stop..." 

 

"Do you anticipate watching their crimson red blood trickle through your fingers?" 

 

"Stop...!" 

 

"Can you not wait for when you--" 

 

"Stop!" 

 

"--Hear their cries in pure agony when you finally rip out their hearts and crush their bones to grains and powder?" 

 

"No," I murmured, my breathing increasing gradually. "No, I, I wouldn't. I won't, I--" 

 

"Or," he cut me off, "Are you waiting to destroy just one of them? Leaving the other depressed and to look at you with shame and betrayal? Until they finally hate you and ultimately kill you--?" 

 

"NO!" I screamed, making everyone jump. "No! No! No!" I glared at the man, red-hot fire burning in my eyes. I slowly walked over to the man, who looked at me with wide eyes tinted with amusement. "I won't do that, and they won't die, because I'm going to protect them! I'm going to make sure that nothing EVER happens to them, and if I find out that you so much as give one of them a paper cut," I glared him in the face. "I'll kill you all myself." 

 

He smirked, "The Monster finally shows its true colors. But what good would a threat like that do in front of your friends?" 

 

I paused, and turned around, the Doctor, Rose, and even Jack all looked at me with concern, "Augusta, who the hell are you talking to?" The Doctor demanded, striding over. 

 

"I-I was--" I turned back around to the man, who was grinning madly, his malicious yellow eyes gleaming with dark amusement.  

 

"I would love to see you stay and destroy your friends, Monster," he pulled out his arm, revealing his vortex manipulator. "But, I have important people I have to see." 

 

His hand slammed down, and I launched myself at him. "Wait!" I screamed, but it was too late. I hit the wall painfully, and he was gone.  

 

"Auggie, are you okay?" Rose said, coming over and helping me up. 

 

"I'm fine," I grumble, frustrated. I let him get away again! And he's messing with my memories! I can't protect them if I don't know what's going on! 

 

"Auggie, what's going on? Who were you talking to?" The Doctor demanded. 

 

"I-I," I stammered, staring at him. His blue eyes were set in an angry glare, but there was also some kind of concern mixed in it. Was he angry or was he sad? I-I don't know, he's confusing me! He sounds angry, but his words are sad, I don't know what to think anymore... 

 

I sighed and sat down on the child's bed, burying my face in my hands. "I don't want to talk anymore," I mumbled, not bothering to look at them. 

 

"You don't want to talk?!" He repeated heatedly, "Augusta, you just threatened to kill something and then jumped at a wall! You need to tell us what's going on." 

 

I didn't answer, I heard footsteps violently walk over, and stop in front of me, "Augusta, I'm serious. Tell us what's going on." 

 

"... I can't," I murmured, not looking up at him.  

 

"Why not? Is someone threatening you?" 

 

I hesitated, "... No." 

 

"Who's after you?"  

 

"Nobody." 

 

"Don't you dare start that again, Augusta," he growled, making me flinch. "This has gone on long enough. You need to tell us what's going on! We're trying to help you!" 

 

"I don't want your help," I reasoned, "I don't want you to help me. I want to protect you from them. I'm trying to make sure you don't get hurt!" 

 

"I'm a grown person, I don't need you to protect me." 

 

"Doctor, you have no idea what's coming," I laughed humorlessly. "You don't know what you're risking! I'm trying to do everything I can to make sure that they don't hurt you!" 

 

"Who?" He demanded, "Who's going to hurt me?!" 

 

I glared at him, my eyes burning with fury, "The same people that hurt me!" I yelled, breathing heavily with anger. I looked at them, the Doctor stared at me in shock, as did Rose and Jack. 

 

"Augusta, nobody's going to get you," Rose spoke up. "Nobody's gonna get u--" 

 

"You don't know that," I muttered. "They're too powerful. They know I'm with you, and they'll try to get to you, to get to me..." 

 

"We won't let them--" 

 

"You don't even know who you're up against." 

 

"--Take us," the Doctor continued. "I'm sure I can handle a few humans threatening your life." 

 

I stared at him, my hazel brown eyes burning into his head, "Who ever said that they were human?" 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

"Mummy?" The child's voice said through the box. "Please, mummy? Mummy?" 

 

The Doctor was pacing the room, I sat on the bed, my knees to my chest. Nobody was talking to me. They knew I was keeping secrets, and I had just told them that they were coming. I didn't want to talk anymore. I didn't want to say anything about it anymore. I wanted to help protect them, but they weren't letting me! I didn't want to tell them about my powers either, or they wouldn't trust me. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know who to talk to, I didn't even know what to say to them. 

 

"Doctor?" Rose asked, watching him carefully. 

 

"Can you sense it?" He asked her. 

 

"Sense what?" Jack asked, confused. 

 

"Coming out of the walls," he explained, a certain tone of stress in his voice. "Can you feel it?" 

 

"Mummy?" 

 

"Funny little human brains," he laughed. "How do you get around in those things?" 

 

Jack glared at him, but Rose placed a hand on his arms, "When he's stressed, he likes to insult species," she explained. 

 

"Rose, I'm thinking," he said, still pacing. 

 

"Cuts himself shaving," Rose continued with a grin. "Does half an hour in life forms he's cleverer than..." 

 

"There are these children living rough around the bomb site," he said, more to himself. "They come out during air-raids looking for food." 

 

"Mummy, please." 

 

"Suppose they were there when this thing -- whatever it was -- landed?" He continued. 

 

"It was a med-ship," Jack insisted, "It was harmless." 

 

"Yes, you keep saying. 'Harmless'," he scoffed. "Suppose one of them was affected -- altered?" 

 

"Altered how?" Rose frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. 

 

"I'm here! Is the scary with you?" My eyes fractioned and I shot my head up. 

 

"It's afraid. Terribly afraid, and powerful. It doesn't know it yet, but it will do," he laughed. "It's got the power of a god, and I just sent it to its room." 

 

"Doctor," Rose said, as I moved off the bed.  

 

"I'm here. Can't you see me?" The boy continued, I turned towards the door, I thought I heard something. "Is that the scary?" 

 

A loud crackling noise filled the room, and I jumped, "What's that noise?" Rose asked and I went to go stand beside her. 

 

The Doctor's wide smile faded, "End of the tape. It ran out about 30 seconds ago." 

 

"I'm here, now. Can't you see me? Where's the scary?" 

 

"I sent it to it's room," he said, the wheels slowly turning in his head. "This is its room." 

 

He spun around quickly to see the child standing behind him, "Are you my mummy?" He asked, looking at Rose. "Mummy?" He turned to me, and staggered a few steps back, with a gasp, "The scary..." 

 

"Okay... on my signal... make for the door," Jack ordered, reaching a hand into his coat. "NOW!" He whipped out his hand to pull out a yellow half circle thing and pointed it at the child threateningly. I rose and eyebrow at him and the Doctor grinned, reaching in his own jacket and pulled out the gun that Jack had earlier. 

 

He shot it at the wall, creating a perfectly square hole where the stone was used to be, "Go! Now!" The Doctor shouted, pushing us through. "Don't drop the banana!" 

 

"Why not?!" Jack yelled as he hopped through the wall with us. 

 

"Good source of potassium!" He grinned. 

 

"Give me that!" Jack growled, snatching the gun from him and pointing it at the wall where the child was just climbing through.  

 

"Are you my mummy?" The child asked as he shot the wall, making it instantly rebuild itself as if it never had a square hole in the first place. 

 

"Digital rewind," I chuckled to myself, and Jack looked at me. 

 

Jack looked at me, "What?" 

 

I looked back at him, "What?" 

 

He opened his mouth to say something else, but the Doctor cut him off, "It's from the Groves of Villengard." He said, although I had no clue what that was, "I thought it was appropriate." 

 

Jack looked at the Doctor with a small chuckle, "There's really a banana grove in the heart of Villengard and you did that?" 

 

"Bananas are good," he shrugged. 

 

A thump on the wall made us all turns around stare at the wall, where the child was punching on, and cracks was spreading through. "Doctor!" Rose shouted. 

 

"Come on!" He said, taking both our hands and running down the hallway. 

 

We ran down a short flight of stairs and into another hallway and stopped when we found a crowd of people moaning, "Mummy," in our path.  

 

Turning around, we went the other way, back up the flight of stairs, only to find another hoard of people, slowly advancing on us. We were back in front of the cracking wall. 

 

I muttered a curse and held out my hand to control their tracks, but stopped when my nose bled lightly. There were too many, I'd kill myself before I was able to stop one crowd!  

 

"It's keeping us here so it can get at us," the Doctor muttered, looking around at the situation we got ourselves into.  

 

"It's controlling them?" Jack asked, pointing his gun in their directions, although with them coming on both sides, it really wouldn't work. I moved towards the back, if I can't stop them, then I could buy us time.  

 

I slowly moved my hand over the cracking stone wall, sealing the stone back together, only to have it cracked again seconds later. I cursed. "It IS them," the Doctor clarified, "It's every living thing in this hospital." 

 

"Okay. This can function as a sonic blaster, a sonic cannon, and a triple-enfolded sonic disrupter," Jack said, bragging a little. "Doc, what you got?" 

 

I saw the Doctor pull his sonic screwdriver out, but put it back quickly, "A sonic, er... oh, never mind," he sighed. 

 

"What?" Jack demanded, not stopping at pointing his gun at the gas-mask people. 

 

"It's sonic, okay?" The Doctor said, a bit of a pout in his voice. "Let's leave it at that." 

 

"Disrupter? Cannon? What?"  

 

"It's sonic! Totally sonic! I am sonic-ed up!" 

 

"A sonic WHAT?!"  

 

"SCREWDRIVER!" With that, the child finally punched through the wall and Jack spun around. He began to climb through as I was trying to seal it back, with no avail.  

 

I saw Rose grab Jack's wrist and point it at the ground, it took me a half second to realize what she was doing. "Going down!" She shouted, shooting the gun at the ground. 

 

We quickly fell through the square hole, with all the panic, I managed to create a small air cushion under them to soften the fall, but didn't have time to make myself one, and fell flat on my face.  

 

Having no time to complain, I quickly move a hand, and seal back up the hole before anyone can get through it. "That was not as hard of a fall as it should've been," the Doctor muttered, sitting up. I resisted the urge to give him a very sarcastic 'You're welcome'. He turned to me, "Auggie, you alright?" 

 

"Yeah, I'm--" I cut myself off by coughing violently a few drops of blood splattered on my hand. Shit, the side effects shouldn't have been this fast! Maybe because I was controlling more people... And sealed a wall... And cushioned their fall... And resealed the floor... 

 

"Auggie?" He moved over to where I was. He saw the blood on my hands and his eyes widened, "Not again...!" 

 

"I'm fine, just give me a second," I muttered, standing up, but the room turned quickly and I nearly fell back down.  

 

"Who has a sonic screwdriver?" Jack demanded.  

 

"I do!" He shouted back, helping me up.  

 

Rose looked around, "Light!" 

 

"Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks 'oohoo, this could be a little more sonic'?" Jack sassed, which made me giggle, and then I fell into another coughing fit.  

 

"What, you've never been bored?" He cried indigently, rubbing my back at the same time.  

 

"There's gotta be a light switch!" Rose said, still poking around. 

 

"Never had a long night?" The Doctor said. "Never had a lot of cabinets to put up?" 

 

Rose finally found the light switch and turned it on, only to reveal a dozen or so more dead-mask-people sitting up straight on their beds, staring at us, and murmuring about their mummies.  

 

"Door," Jack said, and ran towards the metal door that led to the other room. I watched the mask-people get out of the bed and head toward us. I softened the stone ground underneath their feet, making them sink into the ground, and slow them down.  

 

I couldn't keep this up for long. There were too many and after controlling their blood upstairs, I should have probably fainted by now. "Damn it!" Jack shouted, smacking his gun with his hand, and stepping back, letting the Doctor work on the door. "It's the special features, they really drain the battery." 

 

"The battery?!" Rose cried as he sonicked the door, opening it, and hurrying us through. "That's so LAME!" 

 

The Doctor sonicked the door behind him once we all were through, Jack ran to the small, barred window. I stood by the wall, just listening to them, "I was gonna send for another one, but somebody's gonna blow up the factory." 

 

"Oh, I know -- first day I met him, he blew my job up," Rose replied, sarcasm lacing her voice. "That's practically how he communicates." 

 

"Okay, that door should hold it for a bit," The Doctor said, turning around. 

 

"The door?! The wall didn't stop it!" Jack exclaimed. 

 

"Well, it's gotta find us first!" The Doctor shouted, "Come on, we're not done yet! Assets, assets!" 

 

"Well, I've got a banana," Jack rolled his eyes. "And at a pinch you could put up some shelves!" 

 

He went to the window, "Window--" 

 

"Barred, sheer drop outside. Seven stories," Jack said. 

 

"And no other exits," Rose added, even though that really didn't help the situation. 

 

Jack sat down in one of the chairs, "Well, the assets conversation went in a flash, didn't it?" 

 

The Doctor turned around to look at Rose, about to say something, when his eyes trailed over to me. "Oh, god! Auggie!" He shouted, rushing over, finally noticing the condition I was in.  

 

Sweat beaded my head and my eyes half-lidded, my head stayed on the wall, feeling for vibrations outside the door. Whenever someone got too close, I'd make a small hole through the ground, sending them to the floor below. It was a perfect plan, even though I felt like I was dying... 

 

The Doctor sonicked me as I coughed up more blood into my hand, "What is wrong with you? You're dying!" 

 

"I'm fine," I waved it off.  

 

"You're dying!"  

 

"I'm fine," I insisted, creating another hole for someone to fall through.  

 

"What do you mean she's dying? Did they touch her?!" 

 

"No," he said. "She's doing something that literally toying with her heart. If you keep this up, you'll kill yourself!" He looked at me, his eyes a desperate dark blue and face pale with worry and fear. 

 

I managed a small smile, "I'm protecting you," with that, everything went black. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

Her eyes rolled back into her head and she slumped forward. Luckily, he caught her before she hit the floor. He pulled up a chair, setting Augusta on it carefully.  

 

Then, he began to pace the room again, "Okay, one, we want to get out of here. Two, we CAN'T get out of here. Three, Augusta might be dying. Have I missed anything?" 

 

"Yeah..." Rose said, "Jack just disappeared." He whipped his head around to see the 51st-century conman gone. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

I shot up, gasping, I looked around to see I was in some kind of small metal ship. I was sitting in a slightly comfy chair. I heard Rose, the Doctor and Jack talking behind me.  

 

I turned around to see a gold dust surrounding the Doctor's hand, "They're what fixed my hands up!" Rose exclaimed, "Jack called 'em, um..." 

 

"Nanogenes," I finished softly, making everyone look at me.  

 

"How'd you know that?" The Doctor asked. 

 

I blinked at him, he sounded like Jack from earlier, "Know what?" I asked, standing up. 

 

"Nanogenes. You knew they were Nanogenes," He explained. 

 

"No I didn't," I frowned.  

 

"You've been doing that all day," Jack said. "First the square-ness gun, then the digital rewind, now this!" 

 

"No I haven't," I rose an eyebrow, "Where are we?" 

 

"We're in Jack's--" 

 

"Ship," I murmured, cutting him off. "Chula ship..." The room was dead silent. Everyone was staring at me, I instinctively took a step back. "Why are you staring at me, what did I do?" 

 

"Augusta," the Doctor said slowly, "How do you know all this?" 

 

"What are you talking about? I didn't say anything!" I exclaimed, seriously confused at this point. 

 

"Yes, you did," he nodded, stepping over to me, but I was so on edge that I took a half step back. There wasn't anywhere I could go, really. The space ship was small, nearly no room for me to go. 

 

They all stared at me for a good few minutes and my anxiety increased, I felt my powers flare a bit from the panic, but I balled my fists up, putting them in my pockets.  

 

"Nanogenes," the Doctor finally said, breaking his stare with me. "Sub-atomic robots. There's millions of them in here, see?" He pulled out his hand, and showed it to Rose, "Burned my hand on the console when we landed -- all better now. They activate when the bulk head's sealed. Check you out for damage, fix any physical flaws." He waved the gold dust away and turns to Jack, "Take us to the crash site. I need to see your space junk." 

 

"As soon as I get the nav-com back online," he rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Make yourself comfortable. Carry on with whatever it was you were... Doing..." 

 

What were they doing, I wondered as the Doctor's ears shaded red, "We were talking about dancing!" 

 

"It didn't look like talking," Jack chuckled. 

 

"Didn't feel like dancing," Rose giggled. 

 

"What's 'dancing'?" I asked, confused. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

I was sitting in the back, the Doctor was checking to make sure that I wasn't dying anymore, although I insisted that I was fine. Rose and Jack were sitting near the front, talking to each other. "What's this about you knowing things you're not supposed to?" He asked, sitting beside me.  

 

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I sighed, looking him straight in the eyes.  

 

He stared at me for a second, then sighed, "Fine. What about you threatening to kill nothing, hmm?" 

 

I opened my mouth to say something, then stopped. How was I going to explain that there was an invisible man sent by them trying to kill me? I nearly laughed at the thought, he'd think I'm insane... 

 

"It's complicated," I finally settled on an answer.  

 

"It can't be that complicated," he rolled his eyes.  

 

I frowned, "Maybe it isn't. I still don't want to tell you," I shrugged and he glared at me lightly. 

 

"Why won't you tell us when something's wrong? We already had this conversation and we all agreed that you can definitely trust us." 

 

"It's not that I don't trust you. I don't want you getting hurt because of me," I clarified. 

 

"Nobody will get hurt." 

 

"Can you promise that?" I asked, my eyes narrowing at him. "Doctor, I'm not keeping these secrets from you on purpose," Lie. "I just don't want you two getting hurt. I want to be able to protect you." 

 

"Auggie, I'm 900 years old," he laughed, "There's no reason for you to protect me. I can handle my own, thank you." 

 

"You don't know that," I said firmly, staring at the floor, shaking my head slightly. I took a deep breath, "The things, the people out there that want me dead Won't hesitate on killing you." I looked up at him, my hazel eyes wide with concern, "I'm just trying to help lower the body count..." 

 

He blinked at me, processing my words. Before he could say anything, Jack spoke up saying, "Okay, we're good to go! Crash site?" 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

We were standing back outside the bomb site, near the metal gates that were really sharp at the top. You could see the entire camp of people from here, buzzing about, patrolling the area, etc. "There it is," he sighed like it was the most beautiful thing on earth.  

 

I noticed a familiar looking man walking around the base, a unreasonably large gun in his hands. "Ay, they've got Algy on duty," Jack laughed, "Must be important." 

 

"We've gotta get past," the the Doctor mumbled. 

 

"The words 'distract the guard' head in my general direction," Rose replied with a smirk. 

 

"I don't think that'd be such a good idea," Jack frowned. 

 

"Don't worry..." She laughed, "... I can handle it." 

 

Jack still frowned at her, and peered through the gating, spotting a man that was standing next to a large tent. "I've got to know Algy quite well since I've been in town. Trust me. You're not his type. I'll distract him," he begins to walk away. "Don't wait up." He hurried off, leaving Rose, the Doctor, and I by ourselves. 

 

The Doctor and Rose looked at each other, "Relax, he's a 51st century guy," he said with a grin. "He's just a bit more flexible when it comes to dancing." 

 

"How flexible?" Rose frowned. 

 

"Well," he chuckled, "By his time, you lot have spread out across half the galaxy." 

 

"What does that mean?" I asked, glancing at Jack every now and then. 

 

He grinned, "So many species, so little time..."  

 

I rose an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. "What, that's what we do when we get out there?" Rose asked, "That's our mission? We seek new life, and... and..." 

 

"Dance," he smiled at her. 

 

I blink at them, still not understanding this 'dance' thing. I looked back at Jack, who wasn't very far ahead, just entering the camp right now. I strained my ears to hear what they were saying.  

 

"Hey, tiger! How's it hanging?" Jack's cheerful voice said, talking to the man. 

 

"Mummy?" The man asked and my eyes widened. 

 

"We need to go," I said immediately, going down the hill where Jack left, running as fast as I could to Jack and the soldier. 

 

"Algy, old sport, it's me," Jack laughed. 

 

"Mummy?" The man asked again.  

 

"... Jack," he said, his voice dropping the cheeriness it once held before. 

 

"Jack?" He asked, his head cocking to the side, "Are you my... Mummy?" 

 

Once I had gotten there, the transformation had already started. A gas mask produced itself from his mouth, and out of his skin. I watched as he finally fell to the ground, his face and hands pale. He was dead. 

 

The Doctor and Rose had also arrived in time to see him change as well. Rose gasped in surprise, "Stay back!" The Doctor shouted when soldiers rounded the corner. 

 

"You men!" Jack ordered the soldiers, "Stay away!" The soldiers stopped in their tracks, and the Doctor and Rose looked at his body. 

 

"The effect's become air-borne," the Doctor commented, as I stared at the gold dust surrounding his body and leaving into the air. "Accelerating." 

 

"What's keeping us safe?" Rose asked, nervously. 

 

"Nothing," he admitted. 

 

A loud siren filled the air, I cringed at the noise, covering my ears. "Ah, here they come again," Jack said, looking at the sky. 

 

"All we need," Rose nodded. "Didn't you say a bomb was gonna land... HERE?" Jack nodded. Through all the chaos, I for some reason, heard singing. I blinked and turned to the shed where it was coming from, is that Nancy? 

 

"Never mind about that," the Doctor said. "If the contaminants air-borne now, there's hours left." 

 

"For what?" Jack asked. 

 

"'Til nothing," he answered grimly. "'Til forever. For the entire human race. And can anyone else hear singing?" 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

"Rock-a-by baby, on the tree tops," Nancy's voice sang through the shed. "When the wind blows the cradle will rock..." 

 

The Doctor slowly opened the door, revealing Nancy, who was handcuffed to a table, singing to a sleeping man with a gas mask on his face. The Doctor motioned for her to keep singing. 

 

"When the bough breaks the cradle will fall," she continued, "And down will come baby, cradle and all. Rock-a-by baby... on the tree tops, when the wind blows the cradle will rock..." The Doctor steps towards her, producing his sonic, and sonicked the handcuffs off her.  

 

We slowly all walk out the door. As I went, I felt something clamp on my arm. I turned around to see the man, who was supposedly sleeping, holding my arm, "Are... Are you my mummy?" He asked, although his voice was groggy from sleep. 

 

My breath hitched and I tried to pull away, but his grip was like iron, "No," I growled. 

 

"Are you my mummy?" He asked again, not letting go. I felt the gold dust travel up my arm and through my gloves and I began to panic.  

 

"Looks like you're in a bit of a predicament," a new, familiar voice said. I turned around to see the man standing on the wall, smirking.  

 

"Shut up," I growled, pulling at my arm more.  

 

"Mummy," the man moaned again. My arms began to feel weaker, like he was sucking the life out of me. My chest burned with pain, and I groaned. My vision began to blur and merge together.  

 

"Now, now," he smirked, walking over to me, "Don't you want to see your mummy?" 

 

"Don't... Co... Come... Ne-near... Me... Me... Mum-mummy... Mu-mu-mummy," I gasped in pain as I felt something emerge from my throat, and crawl out of my skin. I screamed when it formed itself on my face, gasping in pain. Doctor, help... 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

After running to the crash site, he stopped in his tracks. He was missing something. He turned around, to see Rose, Jack and Nancy following him. 

 

Where's Augusta? 

 

He gasped and quickly turned around, "Doctor?!" Rose called after him, but he didn't have time to answer.  

 

He went back to the shed, and threw the door open, revealing Augusta, with a gas mask slowly forming out of her face. The soldier from earlier was holding onto her arm. There was also a new man standing in the corner of the room, watching her smugly. He was tall and wore a black trench coat. He noticed unnatural yellow eyes poking out from under his hood. 

 

"Augusta!" He shouted, and she whipped her head around, her visible eye widened. 

 

"STAY BACK!" She screamed, throwing her arm out, and instantly, he didn't have control of his body, and flew back, hitting the wall painfully. She yanked her arm away, and kicked the soldier in the leg, making him fall to the ground and shakily stood up. 

 

"What are you going to do, little Monster?" The man smirked, "You can't protect them and fight the Nanogenes at the same time." 

 

"Leave her alone," he growled at the man. "Who are you?!" 

 

He turned to him and grinned, "Why would I--" he wasn't able to finish that sentence because Augusta launched herself at him. He quickly jumped away, and she skidded towards the floor. Her singular visible eye was burning a crimson red.  

 

"Leave... Him... Alone," she growled through pants. 

 

"What are you going to do?" He teased, "You can barely stand." 

 

She glared at him and flicked a finger in his direction, sending him back against the wall, and holding him there. He groaned in pain as she slowly walked toward him. "How scary..." He chuckled, "You shouldn't be able to move... You truly are a monster!" 

 

"This ends... Now," she growled, holding him up by his throat.  

 

He stared at her in fear for a few seconds, then he smirked, "Not quite yet." He slammed his free hand on his wrist, that held a Vortex Manipulator. Augusta glanced at him, fear shining in her eyes, before they both flashed away.  

 

"Doctor!" Rose shouted running through the door, "Where's Auggie!?"  

 

"He took her," he muttered. She was gone, he thought horrifically.  

 

"Who took her!?" Jack demanded. 

 

He stared at the spot where she was gone, a single black glove in her place. "I... Don't know..."  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

I woke up groggily, my head felt like it was pounding in pain. I was lying on some kind of cold, hard surface, where was I? I tried to sit up, only to find my movement restricted and the sound of chains rattling. 

 

My eyes widened and I shot up. My hands were completely encased in a metal, as were my feet. I couldn't even wiggle my fingers! I felt a metal strap around my mouth, keeping me from talking or making any sound. I also wasn't wearing my jean jacket, no, I was wearing a white jacket with latches on them, that helped chain my body to the wall. Worst of all, I found a bulky metal collar around my neck, identical to the one I wore when I was-- 

 

"It seems that our little Monster has awoken," a voice said. I turned to see the man, walking through the door, a smirk on his face. "Oh, don't we have plans for you, Subject August.23. But first, tell me... Where is the TARDIS?" 

 

I glared at him, not saying anything, not that I could though. "Don't want to talk? That's okay, we have... Other means of gaining information." He reached into his pocket, pulling out a small remote, my eyes widened and my breathing quickened. 

 

"It seems that you remember this," he grinned, his hand hovering over the button. "Well, then. I just want to remind you of one thing," a malicious smirk danced on his lips. 

 

"This is for your own good." Then, I screamed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta.
> 
> Please do not copy.


	19. C H A P T E R  S E V E N T E E N

Chapter 18: 

Augusta's POV 

I shivered in the stone cell I was kept in. The clothes I were given were thin and dampened with my warm blood. I don't remember how long I've been here. I heard the door creak open for the second time today, I didn't bother to look up, I already knew it was the man, the Director as he call himself. He was back to hurt me and find out where the Doctor was and how he could get into his TARDIS. 

 

The Doctor. That was a interesting name. What did these 'doctors' do anyway? There was something about this doctor that would make me tear up and my stomach churn tightly. This doctor was messing with my mind but I couldn't bring myself to hate him. I was protecting him, whoever he was...  

 

Who or what ever he was, I wanted to -- no I needed to -- protect him-- them. I needed to protect them... I won't let the-- 

 

My thoughts were cut off by the Director slapping me across the face. My head hit the wall painfully, but I didn't say anything. I wasn't able to say anything. I wasn't allowed to say anything. I was barely allowed to think anything. 

 

"If I hear another thought about you protecting that Doctor, I'll kill you myself," he growled, glaring at me. I stared up at him, my eyes dull, lifeless even, but even with that, they held a certain hint of defiance in them. I didn't know who or what this Doctor was, but I knew for sure that if the Director wanted him, then there'd be no way in hell I'd let him have him. 

 

The Director glared at me, "Where is he?!" He roared, grabbing the rim of my shirt. When I said nothing, he threw me back against the wall. I leaned against the wall, my chains rattled loudly from the friction of the blow.  

 

He glared at me and I dully stared back, until finally, he broke it with a smirk. "You know, it's been officially a year since I've captured you, Subject August.23. A year. I have to admit, your resilience is impressive, but this has gone on long enough. Just tell us where his TARDIS is. Anywhere in time and space. Just one place where his TARDIS might be." 

 

When I didn't say, or think, anything, his face grew red with anger and he punched me in the stomach. I sucked my breath in pain, as he grabbed my shoulders, slamming me on the ground and stomping and kicking on my already injured body repeatedly.  

 

After a while, he finally grew tired and stood up, leaving my black, blue, and bloody body on the ground. "You won't be getting fed for the next few weeks," he spat. "Think of it as a one-year anniversary." He turned and silently walked out of the room, his hard shoes clacking against the flooring.  

 

"Have fun eating rats, Monster!" He hissed, slamming the thick metal door shut, leaving me in heavy darkness. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

Three days.  

 

Three days, five hours, thirty-eight minutes and fifty four seconds since Augusta had disappeared. He had searched everywhere -- everywhere -- for her, but he couldn't find anything. At all. Not a single trace of her left in the Universe!  

 

How could she had disappeared so easily!? Better yet, how could he have let her disappear so easily!?! He was supposed to protect her! He was supposed to make sure she always felt safe, but now she's gone! 

 

And it was all his fault. 

 

"Doctor?" Rose's voice said from the hall. He turned around to see her standing against the door, staring at him with concern. "You should be getting some sleep." 

 

"I'm a time lord," he said, turning back to the typewriter and desktop on the console. "I don't need sleep." 

 

"Doctor please," Rose sighed, "You can't go on like this. Auggie--" 

 

"Augusta is gone," he interrupted, his voice cold and hard as stone. "And I'm going to find her." 

 

She didn't say anything for a few minutes. Then, he heard her walk over and sit down in the passenger's seat near the console. "Doctor, would Auggie want you to treat yourself like this?" She asked in a soft voice, "She wouldn't want you to stay up like this..." 

 

"How would you know that?" He demanded, not even looking at her. 

 

"Au-Auggie wouldn't want you to stay up for days without eating or sleeping," she continued, her voice cracking with a withheld sob. "She-she would've wanted you to be happy. T-to t-take care of you-yourself..." He turned around to see tears silently dripping off Rose's face and his anger completely disappeared. "Doctor I'm worried about you... And Auggie would be too." 

 

It didn't take him long to pull her into a hug and let her cry into his shoulder, and he didn't blame her. Augusta was like a sister to her, although she probably didn't know what that was. Rose had grown very attached to her over the one-and-a-half months that she had been with them.  

 

Hell, he had grown attached to her too! He loved her as his own daughter. He would do anything to bring her back, but there was nothing he could do... 

 

"Doctor I miss her," Rose finally said through all her tears.  

 

"I do too," he agreed. "I do too..."  

 

It had been ten days. Three days since she had went missing. Three days since he lost another daughter. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

My throat was raw from screaming as they pressed the white-hot metal into my hand. They decided that it would be a great idea if they temporarily blocked my powers, like when they did experiments, in order to rebrand my hand, since it hadn't been done in quite a few years, and was fading.  

 

Once they finished, I gasped in pain, more tears escaping my eyes. I looked at my right hand, which was bloody and burned with pain whenever I so much as moved it a centimeter. 

 

"There, now was that so hard, Monster?" The Director asked with smirk on his face. "Put her back in the cell." 

 

One of the soldiers picked my arms up and dragged me back to the cell, chaining me back up and leaving. I cried in pain whenever my bare hand brushed against the cold metals, sending burning hot signals of pain through my body.  

 

Finally, I decided that it would be best just to sleep instead of sitting here in agony. I leaned against the wall and slowly closed my eyes. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

"Auggie!" A female voice shouted cheerily. I looked over to see a blonde haired woman smiling at me. Who-who is this? Why is she looking at me like that? Why is she smiling? Do-do I know her? 

 

"Auggie!" Someone else called. I whipped my head around to see a tall man, smiling as well. Why are they smiling? Who are they smiling to? Why do they look so... Familiar? 

 

The woman grabbed my hand and began to run, and I numbly followed. She giggled, "C'mon Auggie!" 

 

Who's Auggie? My name... My name is Subject August.23. I don't know an Auggie... 

 

"C'mon Auggie!" The woman called again, running faster. Then, she let go and they both ran away.  

 

No wait! I tried to call after them as they disappeared into the distance, don't go! Who's Auggie?  

 

I kept running until they were finally gone for good, and leaving me in a black abyss of a room. Where am I? I wondered, walking around. Suddenly, my foot slipped and I fell. I let out a strangled scream as I fell to what felt like my death.  

 

Please, I thought to myself as my long, messy, tangled hair whipped around my body. I squeezed my eyes shut, embracing myself for the impact, please... I don't want to die... Not now... Not like this... 

 

Doctor, save me... 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

"Auggie!" He shot up, looking around frantically. He was covered in a layer of sweat, panting heavily. He stood there for a few seconds... Augusta was gone... She's been gone for nearly for almost a week now...  

 

But that dream! He's been having this dream more and more lately. She was falling and he tried to catch her. He remembered her small voice that sounded hopeless and depressing. It echoed in his head and surrounded his thoughts. 

 

"Doctor, save me..." She had said. It nearly brought tears to his eyes. He wanted to save her! He wanted her to be safe, to be back here with him!  

 

But... She wasn't. She was with who, no what, had kidnapped her right in front of his eyes... 

 

And it was all his fault. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

"Rise and shine, monster!" Someone shouted, covering my body in water. I gasped and sat up, water?! I tried to move the water desperately into my mouth, seeing I hadn't had the substance in nearly a week, only to have a painful electricity jolt through my body.  

 

I yelped and stopped immediately, waiting for the electrical shocks to diminish. "You know the rules, monster," the Director said, walking over to my limp body, after a few minutes. "No using your abilities unless I say so." He plucked my limp body and began to undo the metal bonds. He pulled a needle out of his pocket and, without hesitation, plunged it into my neck. 

 

"We're gonna go on a little field trip, okay Subject August.23?" I didn't answer, knowing I'd be punished if I did so. At my trained silence, he smirked, "Good." He nodded and hit me in the head, causing everything to go black. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

I woke up groggily, looking around. I was in a bright room, sitting in front of a young man with pale skin, white hair and fully black, soulless eyes, staring directly at me. I jumped and looked around, where was I?! 

 

"I see you're away, little Monster," the Director's voice said from behind me. I strained myself to turn around and looked at the Director, who was walking in front of me. He stood behind the boy in the chair, who's hands were clenched on the chair.  

 

"I would like you to meet my little friend, Subject 12-June.34," he smiled at the boy, who didn't advert his gaze. "We've received some very good news," he pulled a small thin electronic device out of his pocket and showed it to me. On the screen was three people, two were the woman and man from my dream, and the last was a new person with brown hair, that I didn't recognize.  

 

"We've found your friends," he informed me, putting the electronic device away. "Now, they've joined our games." He put his hands on the boy's shoulders, who didn't even flinch. "We're going to let you see them." 

 

When I didn't do anything, he frowned, "What's wrong? You should be happy, should you not? I'm letting you go!" There's an if... I thought critically. He laughed, "Of course there's a condition. He," he motioned to the boy, "Is going to chaperone you."  

 

Chaperone me? "Yes, chaperone you. Like a babysitter."  

 

A sharp pain filled my head, and my eyes widened, a scream escaping my mouth. What-what is he doing? I looked up to see a devilish grin creeping on the boy's face. Wha-what is he-- 

 

"Subject 12-June.34, is a mentalist," he said causally. "Just like me. It can enter itself in your mind and control your body, including your abilities." My eyes fractioned, what is he talking about?! 

 

"It seems that you don't quite understand the situation just yet," he sighed. "We're sending you to your friends... 

 

"To kill them." 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Rose's POV 

"The female will stand," a familiar voice said, making her look up. "Stand!" 

 

She looked up slowly and she couldn't believe her eyes, "A-Auggie?" 

 

Augusta stared down at her, her usual hazel eyes were a deep black, not showing any whites. Her face didn't show a hint of any emotion. Her hair was a tangled mess that went down to her lower back. She wore a dirty, worn white shirt and sweatpants with a metal collar around her neck. On the end of the clothes were clamps, as if they were used to detain her somewhere.  

 

"THE FE-MALE WILL STAND!" An electronic voice commanded. She looked over to see hundreds of daleks surrounding her, and her eyes slowly widened.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

He stared at the screen in shock, Augusta was alive?! How!? They were hiding her here!?!  

 

"I WILL TALK TO THE DOC-TOR!" 

 

"Oh, will you?" He laughed, "That's nice. Hello!" He waved rapidly, grinning, but it was quickly fading.  

 

"THE DA-LEK STRA-TA-GEM NEARS COM-PLE-TION." It continued, "THE FLEET IS AL-MOST REA-DY. YOU WILL NOT IN-TER-VENE." 

 

"Oh, really? Why's that then?" He demanded.  

 

"WE HAVE YOUR ASS-O-CI-ATE AND THE ELE-MENT-IST," It said, making him raise and eyebrow. "YOU WILL O-BEY OR BE EX-TER-MIN-ATED!" 

 

"Wait, what do you mean 'Elementist'? What elementist?"  

 

"THE ELE-MENT-IST HY-BRID," the dalek explained. "IT IS IN OUR CUS-TO-DY." Did he mean Augusta? She couldn't be an elementist she--  

 

Oh... My... 

 

He stared at the screen. Rose was shaking in fear, Augusta standing beside her, her bare hand pointed at her like a weapon. He gritted his teeth, "No." 

 

The dalek paused, as if not expecting this, "EX-PLAIN YOUR-SELF." 

 

"I said 'no'," he repeated like it was the simplest thing in the world, which it probably was. No meant no. 

 

"WHAT IS THE MEAN-ING OF THIS NEG-A-TIVE?"  

 

"It means 'no'," he nearly chuckled. 

 

"BUT THEY WILL BE DES-TROYED." 

 

He stood up and glared at the dalek with passion, "No! 'Cos this is what I'm gonna do -- I'm gonna rescue them!" Rose turned to the screen, evident pride on her face. Augusta turned for him, blinking. He saw a single tear fall off her cheek, her demonic black eyes flashing hazel for a second.  

 

"I'm gonna save Rose Tyler and Augusta from the middle of the Dalek Fleet," he continued, his words full of fury and determination. "And then I'm gonna save the Earth, and then just to finish off, I'm gonna wipe every last stinking Dalek outta the sky!" 

 

"BUT YOU HAVE NO WEA-PONS! NO DE-FEN-CES! NO PLAN!" 

 

He grinned, "Yeah. And doesn't that scare you to death?" He looked at Rose, who was smiling proudly, "Rose?" 

 

"Yes, Doctor?" She said eagerly. 

 

"I'm coming to get you. Both of you." 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV  

"I'm coming to get you. Both of you," the man on the large screen said before it switched off. Both of us? Why would he get both of us? Who else is he getting? Who else needs--  

 

My face scrunched up in pain and I left out a silent cry in pain, 'Shut up, will you?' A new voice said, making me wince in pain.  

 

Wha--  

 

'Don't you remember? I'm the mentalist that's inside your little mind,' it mocked, laughing. 

 

What are you talking about? Who are you? I demanded, what's a 'mentalist'?! 

 

'Wow, you are more unintelligent than I initially thought,' the voice laughed. 'Here, let me give you a little information about the Mentalist and the Elementist...' 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

"Doctor!" Jack's voice called him over. He turned away from the screen, watching as Jack strode over. "Doctor, the daleks... What did they mean by 'elementist'? What's a elementist?" 

 

He frowned, "The Elementist were a powerful race before the Time Lords. There's only stories about them, nobody actually believed they were real," he sighed. "The Elementist were... Thought to control the elements. Water, earth, fire, etc. They had a nemesis race, the Mentalist, who were a highly telepathic race, and also thought to be just a myth.  

 

"The Mentalist and the Elementist had a... Interesting relationship. To put it simply, they were like the Time Lords and the daleks. Actually, the Time Lords thought that our touch-telepathic ability came from the Mentalist, but it was never confirmed," he paused. "We need to get to the TARDIS if we plan on getting Rose and Augusta." He began to walk away, but Jack caught his arm. 

 

"Wait," he said, his eyes narrowed in slight suspicion. "If the Elementist and the Mentalist had a relationship similar to the Time Lords and the daleks, then... Who was the Time Lord and who was the dalek?" 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

I froze at the voice's information. What did it mean I was a 'Elementist'? And for them to be similar to the Time Lords and the daleks? What did it mean?! 

 

'Do I need to simplify it further,' it sighed. 'The Mentalist were related to the Time Lords. They weren't the destructive race of killers. You were.' 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

"Doctor, which was which?" Jack asked again when he failed to reply the first time. 

 

He sighed again, running a hand down his face, "The Elementist were considered the daleks in that situation. They were destructive and brought death wherever they went. According to the legends, they were considered the  'Gods of Death', and the only people to keep them in order were the Mentalist and their psychic ability to control and read other's minds." 

 

Jack stared at him in shock, "Her eyes... They were black. Soulless even..." 

 

"The sign of the control of a Mentalist," he clarified. "And if Augusta was to somehow get under the influence of a Mentalist in the Dalek's control... Then..." He trailed off. 

 

"Then what?" 

 

He looked at Jack, his face hardened at the seriousness of the situation. "She is probably the most dangerous being in the universe." 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

'There, you idiotic elementist, are you satisfied with your information?' It asked, moving my-- our body forward, towards the woman who stood there, silently.  

 

"Auggie, are you okay?" She asked in a whisper-tone. "What have they done to you?" 

 

I'm fine, I tried to say, but my lips did not move. Instead, I heard the voice say, "I am not Auggie. I am Subject August.23." I froze, wha-what? Was the voice doing that?! 

 

'Of course I am, you imbecile,' the voice sighed. 

 

"A-Auggie, what do you mean? It's me, Rose," the woman laughed like something was funny, but I-- the voice just looked oddly at her. 

 

"I do not know a 'Rose'," I-- we frowned. "Subject August.23 is no longer in control of her being. There is only Subject 12-June.34 left." 

 

'Rose' stared at me--us in shock, "What-what are you talking about? You're Auggie-- Augusta. What do you mean you don't remember me?!" 

 

"It seems that there is an issue," the Director's voice said behind me, I tried to jump and scramble away in fear, but instead, the voice saluted him. He smirked egotistically, "I see you're still in control, Subject 12-June.34." 

 

"Yes sir," the voice answered.  

 

He smiled, "Oh, and do me another favor. When this is over, kill it." 

 

My eyes widened, what?! "Understood, sir." 

 

"You can't," Rose cried, "She's just a child!" 

 

The Director looked at her and laughed, "'Just a child'? It seems that it hasn't told you everything about it then. Shall I shed some light on the subject?" Before she could reply, he continued. "Subject August.23 is one of the greatest killing machines I have ever created. When it was just eight, it killed a entire facility of scientists just before escaping. That was nearly one hundred, two hundred people. If think that Subject August.23 is adorable, happy and 'just a child' then you are sadly mistaken. It's a killer. A monster." 

 

"You're wrong!" She spat angrily, "Augusta is a sweet, kind child whose just been hurt and tortured by people like you!" 

 

He stared at her for a few seconds, then he laughed. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to block out his laughter, I hated his laughter. It was the worst thing to hear, his laughter.  

 

"Believe what you want," he said waving his hand carelessly, walking away. "But you can't change what it is and what it will do." 

 

After he left, a dalek came up right behind him, its eyestalk staring at her. "YOU KNOW THE DO-CTOR! YOU UN-DER-STAND HIM! YOU WILL PRE-DICT HIS ACT-IONS!" It screeched. 

 

"I don't know!" Rose retorted, and it moved dangerously close to her. She narrowed her eyes at it, "And even if I did, I wouldn't tell ya..." She smirked in defiance.  

 

"PRE-DICT!" The dalek commanded hysterically, "PRE-DICT! PRE-DICT!" 

 

"TARDIS DE-TECTED," Another one said. "IN FLIGHT." 

 

"LAUNCH MIS-SILES! EX-TER-MIN-ATE!" 

 

"You can't!" Rose cried desperately, "The TARDIS hasn't got any defenses -- you're gonna kill him!" She moved to go to the daleks, but the voice held her back. 

 

The dalek turned to her, "YOU HAVE PRE-DICT-ED COR-RECT-LY." 

 

The woman looked at the metal aliens in fear, trembling slightly. Her eyes darted from the aliens to the holographic screen, watching a blue box fly through a dark background that was littered with colorful dots behind it. 

 

Stars? 

 

The scene is quickly gone when two objects head towards the blue box, colliding with it, creating a red and yellow scenery of flames, hiding the blue box from view.  

 

Then, there is a loud whooshing sound, I turned around to see the box materializing around the woman, a dalek and I.  Subject 12-June.34 instantly stepped back, just out of its range when it entered.  

 

The spaceship was a deadly silent, I heard the Director's footsteps walk over heavy. He grabbed our arm and spun us around. "What the hell do you think your doing?!" He growled, "You could've killed him if you entered his TARDIS!" 

 

"I apologize si--" our words were cut off by him slapping us across the face.  

 

"Useless," he growled, glaring at us. He threw us on the ground and kicked us in the stomach a few times. 

 

"I apologize," we said again, although our voice was much softer now. "We will do better." 

 

"Yeah you will," he glared, "Or else I'll kill you both myself!" Just as he finished, the door opened revealing the black-haired man, who was grinning. 

 

"EX-TER-MIN-ATE!" The daleks shouted, shooting at the blue box. "EX-TER-MIN-ATE! EX-TER-MIN-ATE!" Their lasers bounced off harmlessly, because the box had some sort of force field surrounding it. 

 

Eventually, the daleks stopped, seeing that it was quite useless. He motioned back inside his box and the blonde woman from earlier and a new man poked their heads out. "Is that it? Useless! Nul points," he mocked the daleks. "It's all right, come on out. That force field can hold back anything." 

 

"Almost anything," the man behind him corrected and the black haired man gave him a short glare.  

 

"... Yes, but I wasn't gonna tell them that," he muttered. "Thanks." 

 

"Sorry," he apologized.  

 

He scanned the daleks surrounding him and then turned to me-- us, "Auggie, are you okay?" He asked, staring at me. 

 

My face didn't change, "I am not Auggie, I am Subject August.23," the voice -- Subject 12-June.34 -- answered dully.  

 

He stared at us for a few seconds, then he walked forward. "D'you know what they call me in the ancient legends of the Dalek Homeworld?" He asked the daleks, "The Oncoming Storm. You might've removed all your emotions... but I reckon that right down deep in your DNA, there's one little spark left. And that's fear. Doesn't it just burn when you face me? So, tell me -- how did you survive the Time War?" 

 

"They survived through me," a gravelly old voice said. The man turned around quickly to see the large alien creature that stared behind him that the Director called the Emperor Dalek. 

 

"Rose... Captain... this is the Emperor of the Daleks," he said, staring at the abomination of a creature. 

 

"You destroyed us, Doctor," the dalek continued. "The Dalek Race died in your inferno, but my ship survived, falling through time, crippled but alive." 

 

"I get it," the man interrupted, causing slight chaos to arise between the daleks.  

 

"DO NOT IN-TER-RUPT!" They screeched, "DO NOT IN-TER-RUPT! DO NOT IN-TER-RUPT!" 

 

The woman and the man behind him flinch at their voices, but still stood strongly. The black-haired man, on the other hand, didn't react at all. Instead he crossed his arms over his chest defiantly and glared, "I think you're forgetting something," he said. "I'm the Doctor. And if there's one thing I can do -- it's talk. I've got five billion languages, and you haven't got one way of stopping me. So if anybody's gonna shut up, it's YOU!" 

 

His words were full of fury that the daleks took a step back, even the Voice -- or Subject 12-June.34 -- did as well, probably seeing how intimidating and overpowering he seemed.  

 

The black-haired man, or the Doctor as he called himself turned back to the Emperor Dalek, "Okey doke. So, where were we?" 

 

The Emperor Dalek stared at the Doctor for a few seconds, "We waited here in the dark space, damaged but rebuilding," he said. "Centuries passed, and we quietly infiltrated the systems of Earth. Harvesting the waste of humanity. The prisoners, the refugees, the dispossessed -- they all came to us. The bodies were filtered, pulped, sifted. The seed of the Human Race is perverted. Only one cell in a billion was fit to be nurtured." 

 

"And what about Augusta, hmm? What did you do to her?" 

 

"Simple," the Director stepped forward, smirking. "We found traces of a elementist DNA and multiplied it. We set up its whole life, being experimented on, being adopted by a pair of our agents under the name of Jackson, and finally, stumbling upon the small crack in time and space and meeting you. It never did anything of its own volition. It was all planned. All set-in-stone before it was even created," he chuckled. "And you walked right into it." 

 

The Doctor glared at him, "So, you decided to play God and mix the DNA of a human with a elementist in order to kill me." He looked at us. Although I really didn't want to look at him for some reason, Subject 12-June.34 didn't waver.  

 

He turned back to the Emperor Dalek, "And you created an army of Daleks out of the dead." 

 

"That makes them... half human," the woman behind him gasped. 

 

"Those words are blasphemy!" The Emperor Dalek shouted. 

 

"DO NOT BLAS-PHE-ME! DO NOT BLAS-PHE-ME! DO NOT BLAS-PHE-ME!" The daleks echoed. 

 

"Everything human has been purged," the Emperor Dalek continued. "I cultivated pure and blessed Dalek." 

 

The Doctor looked around, clearly disturbed, "Since when did the Daleks have a concept of blasphemy?" 

 

"I reached into the dirt and made new life," the Emperor Dalek proclaimed proudly. "I am the God of all Daleks!" 

 

"WOR-SHIP HIM! WOR-SHIP HIM! WOR-SHIP HIM!" The daleks cheered loudly. 

 

"They're insane!" The Doctor said to the woman and man behind him, "A hundred years hiding in silence -- that's enough to drive anyone mad." He walked towards the daleks as if to pity them. "But it's worse than that. Driven mad by your own flesh. The stink of humanity. You hate your own existence. And that makes them more deadly than ever," he looked over at us. "Augusta, I'm so sorry, but I'll come back for you." 

 

I stared at him. Part of me wanted to run over and sob in his arms, but another was scared of him, wondering if he worked for the Director and the cult of the phoenix. Had this all been a game? Been a test? Was I dreaming again about the black-haired man and the blonde-haired lady that would call me 'Auggie' even though I tried to insist it wasn't my name? Who were these people and how did they know me?! 

 

Instead of doing either of those things, Subject 12-June.34 made me say, "This 'Augusta' you speak of is gone. All that is left is Subject August.23 and Subject 12-June.34. That is all there has been for the past year and a half." 

 

He stared at us, his mouth pressed in a thin line, "I know Auggie, my Auggie, is still in there, somewhere. I know that she is still fighting you, and I promise on both of my hearts, that I will save you. I will be the one to protect you this time," he grinned. "Just you wait." 

 

With that, he turned to the Emperor Dalek, "I'm going," he announced going back to his blue box.  

 

 "You may NOT leave my presence!" The Emperor Dalek exclaimed. 

 

"STAY WHERE YOU ARE!" The dalek echoed, but they had already entered his blue box.  

 

The Doctor grinned mockingly at the daleks as they fired their guns at him. "EX-TER-MIN-ATE!" They shouted, fruitlessly firing their weapons. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

After the Doctor left the entire ship had been in chaos. Daleks running around trying to get prepared for war, shouting things like 'VIC-TOR-Y FOR THE DA-LEKS!' and stuff.  

 

The Director had a dalek give us armor so we could fight and kill the Doctor. His exact words were, "If I find that you didn't kill him, then you won't live another day."  

 

Although his death threat had been completely serious, it, for some reason, didn't scare me as much. I wanted to die and escape this hellhole of a life. I didn't want to fight anymore. I didn't want to hurt anyone. I just wanted to go lie down somewhere... And die.  

 

My thoughts were interrupted when I felt a dalek press its eyepiece into my back, "YOU WILL FIGHT FOR THE FIRST LINE OF DE-FENSE," it ordered.  

 

"Go away peppershaker," I muttered walking forward. Then I stopped in my tracks, peppershaker? I said peppershaker. 

 

'No you did not,' Subject 12-June.34 insisted. 'Continue walking and stop interfering with my business.' 

 

But I called him peppershaker! I called him peppershaker, I exclaimed putting much emphasis on the 'I'. You're not in complete control! That means that-- I was interrupted by a sharp pain making me wince painfully. 

 

'I said shut up, you pesky Elementist,' Subject 12-June.34 growled angrily, 'I am in complete control over you! You are weak and will forever be!' 

 

I-I, I stuttered, and I felt myself grin.  

 

'I think it's time for you to take a nap,' he whispered. 

 

I felt myself get drowsy immediately, no! Wait! I-I can't, I don't want to-- 

 

'Nighty-night stupid Elementist,' he cooed and then everything went black. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

3rd POV 

Subject August.23 stopped, lightly holding her head, as if she were in pain. "WHAT IS THE ISSUE, SUB-JECT AU-GUST.23?" A dalek nearby asked. 

 

A small grin spread on the young girl's face, "Nothing. Everything is fine," she picked up a death ray gun from the dalek that provided her with it. "Let's go kill a time lord." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta.
> 
> Please do not copy.


	20. C H A P T E R  E I G H T E E N

Chapter 19: 

Augusta's POV 

I woke up to a scream. A loud, shrilly, female scream.  

 

My eyes shot open, just as I was able to see a woman, her blood pooling out of her body making a crimson red puddle surround her. Her face was a sickly pale-ish green, her dull, lifeless, bloodshot eyes were rolled back into her skulls. Her face was splattered with a few drops of blood. Her blood.  

 

I gasped in fear, trying to do whatever I could to jump away, move away, something, but my feet stayed glued on the spot. 'It seems you have awoken,' the voice -- Subject 12-June.34 -- said causally. 'Just in time too, I'm having the best of fun!' 

 

Wha-what have you done!? I screeched, trying very hard, and failing at it, not to freak out that badly. 

 

'You know, they gave me this gun just in case but,' we threw the gun over our shoulder carelessly. 'My hands are much better, don't you think?' I could only stare at the body, my breathing began to grow irregular, I-I killed her... 

 

'You mean, you killed them,' it corrected.  

 

I froze, what? 

 

'Well, don't you see?' he slowly turned around, 'I've been having the most of fun.' Behind me was a large scene of bloody bodied littering the floor. My eyed widened, I counted ten, maybe fifteen people?!! I-I-I didn't do this... I didn't, I couldn't, I-I-- 

 

Subject 12-June.34 began to walk down the hall with the rest of the daleks, 'Oh but it is,' Subject 22-June.34 grinned evilly, 'And if you think that's bad, wait till what I do with your friends'. 

 

My eyes widened, friends?! What friends!? Who else are you planning on killing?!! 

 

A smirk placed itself on our face, 'Oh, just wait. You'll find out everything.' I felt myself be restricted, as if bonded by chains. A growl released itself from my throat as I tried to pull away, only to be held tighter. 'Do stop moving,' he sighed, approaching another man, who was frantically running away, screaming for his life. 'Why don't you sit down...' We stopped him immediately by a large flame erupting in his chest, spattering still-warm blood everywhere, and a few droplets falling on my cheek. 'And enjoy the ride...' 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

He was working faster than he ever had on the 'Delta Wave'. He already sent Rose home with his TARDIS so she could be safe.  

 

There was no way out. 

 

"Would you like to see your Elementist friend, Doctor?" The Emperor Dalek asked, smugness hinted in its voice. Before he could answer, the scream flickered over to Augusta, who was standing there, watching as she burned a man alive.  

 

"That's not Augusta," he growled going back to work, he didn't have time to do that, he needed to stop the Dalek fleet. 

 

"What about this, Doctor?" Another video of a smaller, younger version of Augusta, screaming as she literally turned a group of men, twice her size, to ashes.  

 

He froze, staring at the screen that showed her killing and murdering over and over and over again. He gritted his teeth and continued his work, "That's still not Augusta." 

 

"Face it, Doctor," the dalek laughed. "You adopted a killer!" 

 

"That's not Augusta!" He rose his voice, "Creatures like you pushed her, a child, to do such things! She was a child and she has blood on her hands because you pushed her to it!" He glared at the dalek with such ferocity that the dalek would disintegrate if looks could kill.  

 

The dalek simply stared at him. "Such hatred... You would make a good dalek," then the video cut off. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

STOP! I screamed as we murdered another person. Tears streaked down my cheeks as the mentalist simply played with the blood that leaked from their dying bodies. Stop, please! 

 

'Would you like me to murder another?' His voice sadistic voice asked cheerily. 

 

No, no stop! I don't want you to kill anymore! Just-just go away! Le-leave me a-- AAAAH! I screamed as it used my hands to snap someone's neck.  

 

I was practically in hysterics now. No more, I didn't want to kill anymore. My hands were literally soaked in blood.  

 

'Are you not liking that, little elementist?' The mentalist teased, 'How many more people would you like me to kill before you shut up?' 

 

NO MORE! I screamed, making both of us wince slightly, I don't want you to kill anymore! 

 

He laughed and killed a few more people, and I screamed for each one. Finally, we were at a Floor 56, where there was a woman inside, I could hear her. One of the Daleks turned to me, "YOU WILL GO TO FLOOR 500 TO EX-TER-MIN-ATE THE DOC-TOR," The leader-one ordered 

 

No! We're not going to kill him, I shouted in protest, only to have invisible chains bind me down harder, making me close my mouth tightly. "Affirmative," we nodded and headed towards the elevator shaft.  

 

Please don't do this, I begged as we used the metal sides to fly up the shaft. Pain rippled through my chest from using so much energy making me cough heavily.  

 

Blood spilt from our lips, but he didn't seem to mind and kept going farther. 'Why are you so against on killing one man?' He inquired, not angrily, but curiously, 'You don't even know him.' 

 

I... I hesitated, I don't know. I-I know him, I just... I need to protect him... 

 

'No you don't,' he laughed harshly as we passed the last few levels. 'You don't know him, you never knew him. You thought you knew him, but you don't. He's just a figment of your imagination. If he knew you, he would've rescued you a year and a half ago. Stop lying to yourself.' 

 

His voice was mesmerizing, hypnotizing even. I-I don't... I don't... I hesitated, shaking my head slightly. No. No, I know him! Don't lie to me, I've seen him before! I glared at the other entity in my being. 

 

He chuckled, finally entering the last floor, 'For a person who hasn't been properly trained to see through telepathic ability, you seem to be able to resist my mind control easily.' 

 

Mind--? 

 

"Augusta!" A new voice shouted, I whipped my head around to see the brown haired man, staring at me, pointing a gun in my direction. I blinked, who was that? "Augusta, stop, this isn't you." 

 

"I am not Augusta I--" 

 

"Don't give me that bull crap," he hissed, glaring at me. "You've killed innocent people! What would the Doctor think of you right now?" 

 

I froze, the Doctor...? He-he was... He was angry with me... I... I don't... I didn't think that...  

 

"Shut up!" Subject 12-June.34 growled, "The Doctor left you! He'll never come back for you, so stop acting like a lovesick puppy!" 

 

I stared at the boy in shock, but that quickly turned into a glare, "How would you know?! You don't know him! You'll never know him! I sick of you being here! I want you out!" 

 

"You can't get rid of me that easily, monster," he growled, glancing at the confused man in front of me. "Besides, we haven't finished with him yet." He flicked his hand and suddenly, he went against the wall. 

 

"Leave him alone!" I shouted, bringing my arm back down, and he fell back down. 

 

"Don't tell me what to do!" Up the man went. 

 

"It's my body! You're not even supposed to be here!" Down he went. 

 

"I control you!" Up. 

 

"I am my own person!" Down. 

 

"Listen ladies," Jack muttered, probably trying to stand up properly. "You're both pretty now can we just stop and--" 

 

"FIND THE HY-BRID AND THE DOC-TOR," A Dalek's voice said behind us. We turned around to see the incoming shadows if multiple daleks. 

 

"Go," the man said, and we turned to him, surprised. "Go find the Doctor, and I swear if you kill him, I'll haunt your ass myself." 

 

I stared at him, what? "I must exterminate the Doctor and his accomplices," we said, no longer speaking separately. 

 

"Then kill me," he growled. "Or let these dammed daleks kill me, I don't care. Just go," he glared at us, "GO!" 

 

With that, we ran down the hall, towards where the Doctor was standing. We can't kill him, I told Subject 12-June.34.  

 

'I must,' he answered coldly. 'We must. It is our mission.' 

 

I won't let you kill any other innocent people, I narrowed my eyes as we opened the door to where the Doctor was.  

 

He was working rapidly, his hands almost too fast to see, when he saw us, he nearly dropped everything. "Wha-what are you doing here?!" He demanded as he connected circuits together to a large lever. 

 

"We were sent to exterminate you," we said and he grimaced. I shook my head rapidly, no! No, I don't want to do this!  

 

"Auggie I know you're still in there," he said, his hands were still moving but he was looking at me. "Please think about this. Think about the people you've killed." 

 

"They were accomplices of the Doctor--" 

 

"They were innocent people!" He retorted. "If I can't talk to Augusta--" 

 

"There is no Augusta." 

 

"-- Then I'm going to talk to whoever is holding her against her will to kill people." He glared again, making shivers run down my back.  

 

"We must exterminate the Doctor," he rose my hand and my eyes widened, NO! I struggled with all my might to make sure he didn't kill him. I used my other hand to hold onto our arm, making it shake and waver. 

 

The Doctor caught onto this hesitation easily, "You see that. That's Auggie and she's fighting!" He grinned and clamped something onto the big lever. 

 

"Doctor, you've got twenty seconds maximum!" Jack yelled from the hall.  

 

We stared at the Doctor, who looked nearly done with his device. We can't kill him! I yelled at Subject 12-June.34, I won't let you! 

 

'Shut up,' he growled and I felt my powers flare dangerously. 'We must exterminate him or the Director will kill us. He'll kill me!' 

 

But we still can't, I insisted, we can't! 

 

'It is our orders!' 

 

We are not killing the Doctor! I yelled with such fury that I felt my clothes singe from the fire that burned at the ends of my sleeves. 

 

'And how will you stop me?' He demanded, 'How are you going to keep me from killing him? What are you going to do, you're just an elementist! I am stronger than you!' A large wave of pain course through my body bringing us both to our knees.  

 

'I can kill you at any point, you know,' he commented. 'You are so weak. So useless. It is surprising to hear that you are known as the 'Monster'.'  

 

I'm... Not a monster, I growled.  

 

'Ironic coming from the growling beast. Is that why children run away from you?' I froze, how did he know that? 'I've been through your memories, I know everything about you.' 

 

You know nothing! I spat. 

 

'I know that you have -- well, had -- prior knowledge of this universe. You knew that the Doctor was going to be in a situation like this, and you tried to do something about it, but it backfired on you. Now, you're going to watch him die.' 

 

"It's ready," the Doctor awed to himself making us turn to him. He had his hands set on the lever just as three daleks came into the room, standing besides us to surrounded him. "You really wanna think about this. 'Cos if I activate the signal, every living creature dies." 

 

The screen flashed and the Emperor Dalek appeared on it, "I am immortal," he stated like it was the most obvious thing. 

 

"D'you wanna put that to the test?" He challenged. 

 

"I want to see you become like me," the Emperor made something like a laugh. "Hail the Doctor, the Great Exterminator!" 

 

The Doctor glared at the screen, his hands gripping the lever tightly, "I'll do it!" 

 

"And kill your Elementist friend?" 

 

"She isn't my friend anymore." My eyes widened, "That isn't Augusta." 

 

"Even if you get her back, you'll still kill her," the Emperor Dalek sneered. "Prove yourself, Doctor. What are you -- coward or killer?" 

 

The Doctor glared at the screen, his hands shaking. He glanced at the lever, then as us, his eyes full of sadness. Finally, he let his hands go, and stared at the screen, his face steely firm, "Coward. Any day." 

 

"Mankind will be harvested because of your weakness," the Emperor Dalek exclaimed. "And the Elementist will he exterminated!" 

 

My eyes widened and I turned around to see a a dalek pointing its weapon at me. "What are you doing?" We exclaimed, staring at the weapon. 

 

"The Director has asked us to get rid of you, since you failed to kill the Doctor yourself," the Emperor Dalek explained, making us grit our teeth. 

 

"And what about me?" The Doctor demanded, "Am I becoming one of your angels?" 

 

"You are the Heathen," the Emperor Dalek spat. "You will be exterminated." 

 

The Doctor looked at the screen then at us in defeat, and closed his eyes, "Maybe it's time..." 

 

Two daleks moved towards him to shoot him while one stayed by me, it's gun pointed in my back. After a half a second of silence and defeat, the familiar sound of whooshing filled the air. I looked over to see the blue box from earlier fading into the room.  

 

"ALERT! TAR-DIS MA-TER-IAL-IZ-ING," the Dalek cried, turning it's gun to the blue box, and the Doctor turned too.  

 

"You will not escape!" The Emperor Dalek yelled. 

 

The doors to the blue box swung open revealing the blinding yellow lights that seemed to be... Singing?  

 

All in all, it was blinding and somewhat overpowering causing us, and even the Doctor to stumble back, falling on his behind, but staring at the woman in shock. "What have you done?" He asked her, his voice held a scared and worrying tone to it. 

 

She simply gazed down at him, her eyes were gold like the light streaming from behind her, "I looked into the TARDIS. And the TARDIS looked into me," she said. 

 

"You looked into the Time Vortex," he repeated, shocked. "Rose, no one's meant to see that." 

 

"This is the abomination!" The Emperor Dalek cried, causing the daleks surrounding us to come to arms. 

 

"EX-TER-MIN-ATE!" They screeched, zapping their death rays at her. She held her hand out and they stopped and went back into their guns.  

 

"I am the Bad Wolf," she continued. "I create myself. I take the words..." She held up her hand and the words on the wall rose, "I scatter them in time and space." The words vanished away, "A message to lead myself here." 

 

"Rose, you've got to stop this," the Doctor said urgently. "You've got to stop this now." Rose stared at me, blankly, "You've got the entire vortex running through your head. You're gonna burn." 

 

"I want you safe," she insisted, tears falling down her cheeks. "My Doctor. Protected from the false God." 

 

"You cannot hurt me," the Emperor Dalek spoke up arrogantly. "I am immortal." 

 

"You are tiny," she snapped, making me take a step back. "I can see the whole of time and space -- every single atom of your existence, and I divide them. Everything must come to dust... all things. Everything dies." She turned to the daleks, "The Time War ends." 

 

"I will not die. I cannot die!" The Emperor Dalek cried, fear rising in its voice. She waved her hand and then the entire army of daleks turned into dust, causing the video to cut off. 

 

Then, she turned to me, "You have a dangerous being in your mind. I will remove it," She waved her hand over me and my eyes widened. I felt like a million tons of pain were being lifted off my shoulders. 

 

'No! No, please! I don't want to die,' I heard him yell desperately before I felt him vanish from my person. 

 

Once he left, I fell to the ground. My head throbbing, my heart thrumming, and I was breathing heavily. I heard the Doctor calling for 'Augusta' before everything finally went a peaceful black. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

3rd POV 

The Doctor went over to Augusta, catching her before she hit the ground. "She is not supposed to be here," Rose said, and he turned to her. "I must--" 

 

"No!" He shouted desperately, "Don't kill her!" The Doctor looked at Rose, fear and desperation shining in his eyes, "Rose, you've done it. Now stop. Just let go." 

 

"How can I let go of this?" Rose said in a hushed, almost blissful voice. "I bring life..." 

 

"But this is wrong!" The Doctor cried, "You can't control life and death!" 

 

Rose looked at him again, "But I can. The sun and the moon... the day and night," her voice began to tremble. "But why do they hurt...?" 

 

"The power's gonna kill you and it's my fault," the Doctor said desperately, glancing down at Augusta. Her chapped, bleeding lips were parted and her face a sickly pale. Augusta gasped and coughed up blood in her sleep. The Doctor's eyes widened in concern, and quickly checking her vitals. She barely had a pulse. 

 

"I can see everything," Rose said again. The Doctor rose his head to see a tear streaking down her cheek. "All that is... all that was... all that ever could be." 

 

The Doctor stood up suddenly, with Augusta limp in his arms, but stared down at her. As if he understood her predicament of time that ran through her head. Being able to see nearly everything and have no one to tell. "That's what I see," he told her. "All the time. And doesn't it drive you mad?" 

 

"My head..." She said, her voice suddenly turned into a dark, scared tone.  

 

"Come here," the Doctor answered. 

 

"... It's killing me..." She muttered and he took her hand. 

 

"I think you need a Doctor," He said, and Augusta coughed again. "I think you both need a Doctor," he added. With that, they both walked in the TARDIS and went far, far away. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

"... Oh, that's right! Barcelona," a new voice said. My eyes fluttered open to see a brown haired, thin man with a black jacket, similar to... To... To whose? 

 

I groaned and sat up, my head was dully throbbing and my chest felt tight, my throat raw. As if on cue, I coughed again making blood splatter all over my hands. I gasped, which turned into a light cough. I was coughing, did I control blood, did I-- 

 

Memories hit me like a ton of bricks, leaving my body shaking like a leaf. All those people I killed. All those people. All those innocent people, I killed them. It was all my fault. All their cries in pain, I ignored and crushed their hearts, melted their bones, laughed at their screams.  

 

For fun. 

 

I gripped my hair, my heart beating erratically. I killed them. It was my fault. I'm a monster. I'm a monster. I'm-- 

 

"Augusta, what's wrong?" The new voice asked. I looked up to see the brown haired man staring at me. "Augusta," he brought his hand towards me, and suddenly I jumped, my face screwing in pain. I shook my head frantically, my eyes closed shut, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. 

 

"What's the matter with her?" I heard a woman ask, but I didn't look up. Before anyone could say anything else, there was a large crash, making me yelp. I slipped and fell off the chair and my head hit the floor.  

 

I'm a monster, was my last thought before everything went black. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta.
> 
> Please do not copy.


	21. C H A P T E R  N I N E T E E N

Chapter 20: 

Augusta's POV 

"... She... Alright...?" A feminine voice said. 

 

"... Don't... Lost alot... Blood... Dying..." A male voice answered. 

 

"She... Up... Auggie?" Someone else, a woman, said, and my eyes slowly opened, revealing the white ceiling of a yellow painted room. Beside the bed was a unknown young man, the young woman from earlier, and a new, older woman. 

 

"Hey Auggie," the younger woman smiled. "How ya feelin'?" 

 

Who are you, I asked, staring at her.  

 

"Auggie? How are you feeling? Are you okay?" She asked again, "Is there any pain? Anywhere?" 

 

I frowned, I-I don't know, I... I don't feel any pain... 

 

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Rose asked, worryingly. She moved over to touch me but I gasped and moved back quickly.  

 

I'm sorry! I apologized, did you want me to say something? I thought I wasn't allowed to talk, I-- 

 

"Why are you scared, it's me, Rose," the woman, Rose, apparently, said. 

 

Aren't you here to hurt me, I-- I paused and looked at them. They couldn't hear me. 

 

I quickly touched my neck, the metal brace was gone. I checked my hands, the chains, the handcuffs, all gone! I looked up at the woman, "I... I'm sorry, I..." was all I able to mutter. 

 

"Why are you sorry, love?" The older woman asked, stepping forward making me whimper slightly. Where was the Director? Why was I here? Was he coming to punish me because I didn't kill that man, the Doctor? 

 

"I just..." I paused, "W-where is the Director?" 

 

"Who?" Rose frowned. 

 

"The Director," I repeated. 

 

"Who's the Director?" The male one asked. 

 

"I-- he's..." I stopped, staring out the window, spotting a porcelain man with a white beard and a large golden object in his arms. He looked directly at me for a few seconds and-- 

 

"Auggie?" The woman called, making me advert my gaze. I blinked, and glanced back at the window, he was gone. "Auggie, are you feeling okay?" 

 

"I..." I stared at her. "Who's Auggie?" 

 

She looked at me oddly, "You. You're Auggie." 

 

I blinked, confused, "I-I'm not... Auggie..." 

 

"Sure you are," the older woman laughed. "You're Augusta, remember?" 

 

"I'm not Auggie," I shook my head. "I'm not Augusta. I'm-I'm Subject August... I'm Subject August.23..." 

 

Rose stared at me in horror, "Auggie, how long were you with the daleks?" 

 

I looked at her, "The Director told me I was there for one-and-one-half years." 

 

Everyone stared at me in shock. I saw tears fall down Rose's cheeks. "You-you were there for a year?! Oh, Auggie," she wrapped her arms around my neck and I sat there stiffly. Why is she doing this? Why is she touching me? Why is she crying, did I do something wrong? I-I didn't know, I'm sorry... 

 

"I don't-- what are you doing I..." I stammered, "Please, I don't understand, I-I--" I was cut off by pain shooting in my chest causing me to push her away and cough harshly. Blood splattered out of my mouth, a few staining the yellowish blankets. After I stopped, and Rose had brought me a tissue to clean it, I stared at the blood.  

 

Was I dying? Why was I dying? Was I finally going to be able to escape? I-I don't know, I hope so. I don't want to live anymore. I don't want to be a monster anymore... 

 

"Hey Auggie," Rose called softly, "My mum's gonna bring you some tea. Why don't you just sit here and... Get some rest, okay?" I nodded obediently, leaning back in the bed, my eyes staying on the ceiling. 

 

One by one, they filed out of the room, leaving me by myself. The bedside lamp is still on and flickering, and the door is partially opened.  

 

I sighed, and closed my eyes, letting myself succumb to a dreamless, restless sleep. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

I woke up to loud noises.  

 

I heard something of a chainsaw running through the room, making me shoot up. I saw Rose and the two other race past the door, with a green tree, spinning it's leaves like a motor saw, and I shot out of bed. 

 

Going into the hall, I saw them run into the room, closing the door, and the tree beating against the wooden door, tearing it to pieces.  

 

Acting quickly, I summoned a flame and shot it at the tree, but with the turbines blowing it rapidly, it quickly diminished before it hit it.  

 

I cursed and began to control the metal, since I could hear moving parts in it. The tree began to slow down, just in time for a whirring sound to be heard and it exploded on the spot.  

 

"Remote control. But who's controlling it?" Someone said entering the hallway, where I stood. He was the man from earlier, but he was wearing a robe. "Auggie?" He called before I fell to my knees, coughing violently.  

 

He quickly came to my side, and without question, laid me on the couch in the other room -- which was surprising still intact. "I'll be right back," he promised and the three of them left the room. 

 

Ten minutes later, they came back, the man in the robe was unconscious and being dragged by the older woman and the man. Rose grabbed my hand and helped me off the couch. "C'mon now, let's go back to the room, okay?" She smiled, leading me back to the room. 

 

I stared at the ground blankly, "Who..." I coughed. "Who was that man?"  

 

"That's the Doctor," she smiled softly and helped me in bed. "I'll explain more to you later. Right now, you need to get some rest, okay?"  

 

I nodded and she smiled, "G'night, Auggie." 

 

"I'm not... Auggie..." I said between coughs. 

 

"I don't wanna hear that right now," she frowned. "Right now... Right now you're Auggie." Before I could protest, she left the room, turning out the lights behind her.  

 

I huffed slightly, but turned in my bed, reluctantly closing my eyes to sleep. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

"It's for your own good," the director's voice echoed, making me shoot up. I looked around. I was in the cell, again. My hands tied by the thick metal bonds and my mouth gagged tightly. 

 

"I see you woke up," his voice laughed sending shivers down my spine. "Just in time for punishments too." 

 

I gasped in shock went I felt his cold fingers greet my trembling skin. "You didn't kill the Doctor. You failed your mission." 

 

I'm sorry, I-- my thoughts were sharply cut off by him smacking me across the face. A whimper escaped my mouth when he grabbed my cheeks, squeezing them with all his might.  

 

"You had one job. You were created for this job, and you blew it," he spat. "I knew you were useless, especially a monster like you. I should've just put you down when I had the chance!" 

 

Please, I cried, tears escaping my eyes. Just leave me alone. 

 

A strong punch to the gut was my pitiful answer, "Like hell I'll just leave you alone! No, you're going to die. You're going to suffer in my most horrible way that you're going to plead for me to just kill you already!" He paused, "How else to start than your favorite collar shocking. Set to the highest level."  

 

I heard him click the dial ten times before finally stopping, "This setting would kill a normal person in a heartbeat," he commented. "A Monster like you should be able to handle it, right?" Excruciating pain flooded my body, I couldn't breath, I couldn't do anything. I tried to move my arms to claw the metal collar off, but the chains stopped them. Instead, I was left twitching and barely being able to move. Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop!  

 

It felt like a decade had passed when he finally stopped. My body slumped forwards, my eyes half-lidded, and gasping for oxygen. "Didn't like that, did you?" The Director laughed and I mustered whatever I could to glare at him. "Oh, don't look like that," he rolled his eyes. "There's more from where that came from, anyway." He pressed the button again, and I screamed. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

I shot up, my body layered in sweat and shaking. I could hear his laughter echoing the wall of the room and my eyes widened, he's back! 

 

I curled up on top of the bed, knowing that if I left the room, he would punish me. Steamy tears fell from my eyes and unto the bed underneath my trembling body. I heard his laughter grow louder and louder, making my back arch and shake more violently. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I pleaded with the devil. I'm so sorry, I won't do it again, I'm sorry, I-- 

 

"Auggie?" A voice said. I didn't move from my spot. I heard footsteps come over, making more fear course through my body. What was he going to do? Was he going to punish me? Was I thinking too loud? Was he-- 

 

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I yelped in surprise, finally looking up to see the blonde haired woman, Rose, from earlier. "Hey, sweetie," she smiled, but I didn't react. The Director would smile when he hurt me. Was she going to hurt me? Did she work with the Director? "Did you have a nightmare? It's okay now, it was just a dream." 

 

I still stared at her, waiting for her to punish me. She sighed, "D'you want some tea? Mum says it'll help your coughing." No response. She gave me a cup that was steaming with a murky brown water. Was she poisoning me so she can hurt me? Was she trying to temporarily take away my powers so she can punish me? 

 

"C'mon, drink up. Promise it's not poisoned," she chuckled, but I didn't react. Was she lying? The Director would lie like that all the time. "Please Auggie," her tone lost its cheeriness. "I know your scared, I'd be too after spending a year with daleks, but you've got to eat something. You're thin as a stick." 

 

When I didn't say or do anything she sighed deeply, "I'll... Leave it here if you get thirsty," she said, and left the room. 

 

I stared at her while she left the room. I heard her go and talk to someone else, and a few minutes later, the other woman walked in. "'Ello love," she smiled. "Rose told me that you had a bad dream. Wanna tell me about it?" I didn't say anything, and the woman sighed, "How 'bout you come with me and we can go sit in the Doctor's room, together, alright?"  

 

I looked away, not wanting to get up. If I moved then the Director would punish me, like he did earlier with when I went to go stop the tree. I don't want to get punished anymore... I don't want to do anything anymore.  

 

"Is there anything you want to eat or-or drink?" She asked again, stepping over. I cautiously took notice to how close or how far she was to me, going over what kind of punishments she could give me from that distance. "How 'bout we just talk, hmm? Now, I'm not try'na be Saint Nick, but what do you want for Christmas?" 

 

I looked at her oddly, Chris-what? "What's Christmas?" I finally asked, but quickly glanced around for the Director to jump out and shout at me for talking. 

 

She gasped, shockingly, and I jumped back. What did I do? Did I do something wrong? Was I in trouble?! "How do you not know what Christmas is?" She nearly shouted. I stared at her, wide-eyed. Fear rising in my body and I felt my powers flare, causing ice to intricately grow on the bed and the room drop a few degrees. 

 

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know, I--" I stammered, looking around. Was I going to get in trouble now?  

 

Jackie glanced down, seeing the ice, that nearly touched the floor now, and I saw her force a smile. "Oh, it's alright sweetheart," she said gently. "I was just surprised is all. A child your age should surely know what Christmas is." 

 

I looked at her for a few minutes, but sighed, my tense nerves settling a bit. "Christmas is a holiday," she said, and thus began her hour-long lecture on the holiday Christmas. Apparently it was just a day were people celebrate when a baby was born, and give presents to their friends and family and sing songs dedicated to the day, and eat food. It sounded like a very odd holiday actually. 

 

"So anyways," she sighed, "What do ya want for Christmas?" 

 

Me, being utterly silent throughout the entire thing, looked at her oddly. "I don't understand, why would I want something? What would I want?" 

 

"Anything," she shrugged. 

 

"Oh, uhm..." I looked down, toying with the ice, that hadn't yet melted from the bed. "I... Don't know..." 

 

"Ah, it's okay love," she grinned. "I'm sure we can grab you and the Doctor something at last minute. Besides, I already got you something a while back anyway." 

 

I was about to say something when I glanced outside, there were people, hoards of people, walking down the street. What the-- 

 

"Mum!" Rose shouted, entering the room, and I jumped. Her face was frantic, and her eyes wide. "You've got to come see this." 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Apparently, everyone was getting up and walking outside, standing on the edge of a building for no reason. We all, even myself after a bit of coaxing, went to go check it out. 

 

We were on top of the roof, people were crying for others to come back away from the deadly ledge. Rose, Mickey and Jackie were discussing it with each other, while I stayed near the side.  

 

I spotted a young boy, about eight or nine standing next to a girl, who looked to be able four. "Please Missy," the boy begged, tears streaming down his cheeks, much like everyone else's. "Dad's gonna be mad if we don't come back soon." 

 

Curiously, I walked over, standing next to the child. "What's wrong?" I asked the boy. 

 

He looked at me, he had coal black hair and grey eyes that were welled with tears. "Missy won't come back, and if we don't go back soon Dad will be angry with us," the boy tearfully explained. 

 

I frowned looking at the young girl, who stood on the edge blankly like a board. I moved my hand to go touch her head. The blood flow to her mind was odd, like she was being controlled.  

 

"Can I try...?" I asked the boy. 

 

"She won't listen to me," he sniffed. "You can do it." 

 

I nodded to the boy and placed a finger on her temple. After a bit of work and having my nose bleed lightly controlling her blood, she finally fainted on the spot.  

 

The boy caught her easily before she went over the edge. "What did you do to her?" He asked in amazement as she coughed, her eyes fluttering open. 

 

"J-Joey," she murmured, "Where are we?" 

 

"You're awake," the boy laughed. "Thank you missus! Thank you!" 

 

The ends of my lips tugged upwards and I turned to walk away, walking right into a large man who was glaring at me. "I saw what you did! You saved that girl! Come save my wife too!" He grabbed my hand and dragged me over, and I gasped trying to pull away. 

 

"What?! No, come help my husband!" Someone else said, grabbing my other hand. 

 

"Come help my sister!" 

 

"Help my daughter!" 

 

"Help my kids!"  

 

Everyone was surrounding me, and I couldn't breathe. Instantly, I crouched down, trying to block them out, but it wasn't working. "Stop, stop it," I muttered, covering my ears, but they kept yelling at me. Finally, someone pulled me up by the arm. It was the first man from earlier. 

 

"How are you able to do that anyway, hmm? Are you some kinda alien or something?!" He accused, making my eyes widen. 

 

"Yeah, I saw something about that on the news!" 

 

"She's an alien!"  

 

"Maybe if we kill her, it'll help our families!" 

 

"Kill her! Kill her!" Someone chanted, and then they grabbed my arms, bringing me over to the edge. I heard Rose shouting over the crowd as they swung me back and forth, ready to toss me over. 

 

"STOP!" Someone screamed and everyone paused. They turned around to see Rose, her face completely red. "What the hell's the matter with you people!? She's just a girl, and you're try'na kill her!" 

 

"She's alien--" 

 

"She's crying!" She shot back, "You're scaring her!" Everyone turned to me, and sure enough, there were tears down my cheeks, and I felt like I couldn't breathe. "Do you think your families would want you to kill a girl because you thought that she was alien?! Leave her alone!" 

 

The man holding me looked at me again, but dropped me on the ground. I began to cough up blood, feeling the aftereffects of saving that girl. I saw Rose's mom come over and help me up, "C'mon now love. Let's take you home." I numbly nodded and the four of us walked down th steps and off the rooftops. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

"What were you thinkin'?" Rose nearly shouted, as we entered the house. "You could've gotten yourself killed!" 

 

I didn't say anything, and just sat down on the chair. My head hurt badly. Rose's mom went to the kitchen and gave me a glass of water, but I just set it down. 

 

"Auggie, you can't just go showing off your powers like that, people'll think you're alien," Rose sighed. 

 

"I thought she was alien," the man frowned. "And powers? What kind of powers?" 

 

"We aren't fully sure. She knows, but won't tell us," Rose sighed.  

 

"I am not Auggie," I finally said. "I am Subje--" 

 

"That's another thing," Rose interrupted. "You're not 'Subject August.1234'. You're Augusta -- Auggie. How many times do I have to beat that back into your head?!" My eyes widened, I was being beaten? Was this punishment? 

 

I looked down, "I'm sorry... I just... I saw the boy crying... I thought I was supposed to help," I murmured. 

 

"Auggie, listen," Rose sighed. "You can't help everyone; you can't save everyone. You need to be more carefully, okay?" I gave her a short nod, and she smiled, messing up my long, messy, tangled hair.  

 

"Now that that's over with," she grabbed the rectangular remote off the table and clicked on the television, tuning to the news.  

 

"Ladies and gentlemen... if I may take a moment during this terrible time," said the old, brown-haired woman on the screen. I frowned and looked away, picking up the remote off the table and easily taking it apart. "It's hardly the Queen's speech, I'm afraid that's been cancelled," she turned her head, addressing someone else. I saw Rose frown at me, and I stopped and began reassemble it. 

 

"Did we ask about the royal family?" She paused, "Oh. They're on the roof. But -- Ladies and gentlemen -- this crisis is unique, and I'm afraid to say, it might get much worse. I would ask you all to remain calm. But I have one request: Doctor," my head shot up, and I stared intently at the screen.  

 

"If you're out there... We need you. I don't know what to do. But if you can hear me, Doctor..." Rose turned away, tears glistening in her eyes, "If anyone knows the Doctor, if anyone can find him... the situation has never been more desperate." Rose turned and walked away, in the direction of the Doctor's room, Rose's mom following close after her. "Help us," the woman begged. "Please, Doctor. Help us." 

 

The television cuts to something else. I sighed and glanced at the man, who was staring at me. "So... Powers?" 

 

As soon as he said that, I jumped up. Grabbing his hand, I pulled him away from the window just overhead of him. Simultaneously, the windows shattered, and the floor shook violently.  

 

We all ran out of the house and outside, finding a large ship, covering the sun's rays, hovering over the city. I heard people gasp and sob, but Rose pulled me back inside quickly. She ran into a room that held a man, lying on a bed, his face pale and his eyes closed.  

 

"Mickey, we're gonna carry him," she orders the man, who was supposedly Mickey, and throws the blankets that covered him off. "Mum -- get your stuff, and get some food. Auggie, help mum. We're going." 

 

"Well, where to?" Mickey demanded, helping Rose. 

 

"The TARDIS," she answered. "It's the only safe place on Earth." 

 

"What're we gonna do in there?!" Rose's mom exclaimed. 

 

"Hide," was her only answer. 

 

Rose's mom scoffed in disbelief, "Is that it?!" 

 

"Mum -- look in the sky," Rose said, her voice only slightly rising. "There's a great, big, alien invasion and -- I don't know what to do, alright? I've travelled with him, and I've seen all that stuff but when I'm stuck at home, I'm useless. Now, all we can do is run and hide, and I'm sorry. Now, move." 

 

Rose's mom leaves the room, with me in tow, as Rose and Mickey picked up the man's sleeping body. 

 

"Cans," Rose's mom said. "Find as many as them as you can. Quickly now!" 

 

I nodded and began to search through the cabinets, pulling out whatever cylindrical metal can as I could find. 

 

Ten minutes later, we had several, large bags nearly filled to the brim with metal cans. Rose's mom and I carried them outside, where we found Rose and Mickey, dragging the man out the front door. 

 

"Mum, will you just leave that stuff and give us a hand?" Rose sighed exhaustingly.  

 

"It's food!" Rose's mom shout back, "You said we need f--" 

 

"Just leave it!" Rose snapped as we walked, but she didn't. 

 

We finally stopped in front of a large blue box with some type of writing on the top and we quickly ran in. "No chance you could fly this thing?" Mickey asked as they dragged the man through the doors. I set the bag of cans on the rectangular metal paneling, near the door. 

 

"Not anymore, no," she sighed. 

 

"Well, you did it before..." Mickey trailed off. 

 

"I know, but it's sort of been... wiped out of my head, like it's forbidden." Rose sighed as they placed the man gently on the floor. "Try that again and I think the universe rips in half." 

 

"Ah, better not, then," Mickey chuckled as I looked around the room. It was the same as when I first woke up when that oddly-haired man, the one who was sleeping now, was in my face.  

 

As Rose and Mickey kept talking, and Jackie went to go get more food, I poked around the large board, looking at the wires that poked out underneath and the buttons and levers that scattered the top.  

 

"Whatcha up to, Auggie?" I felt arms wrap around my neck, and I yelped in surprise, turning around too see Rose smiling at me. Except, her happy smile was changing into a concerned one, "Sorry 'bout that. Shouldn't have scared you like that." 

 

She leaned against the metal boarding, looking at the man on the floor, "How does this thing work? It picks up TV, maybe we could see what's going on out there. Maybe we've surrendered," Mickey asked, pressing a few buttons. "What do you do to it?" 

 

"I dunno, it sort of tunes itself," Rose answered, kind of snappy-like, pressing a few buttons herself. 

 

There is loud, beeping sound ringing in the air. I winced at the loud noise, covering my ears, "Maybe it's a distress signal," Mickey suggested, glancing down at me. "What's wrong with the her." 

 

"Probably just too loud," Rose answered for me, rubbing my back. "S'okay." 

 

"Like I said. Distress signal," Mickey suggested. 

 

"Fat lot of good that's gonna do," Rose scoffed. 

 

"Are you gonna be a misery all the time?" Mickey rolled his eyes. 

 

"Yes," Rose answered honestly, and he scoffed. 

 

"You should look at it from my point of view," He told her. "Stuck in here with your mum's cooking." 

 

At the mention of her mom, Rose looked around, "Where is she?" Mickey shrugged, so she jumped to her feet, going to the door, "I'd better go and give her a hand. It might start raining missiles out there." 

 

"Tell her anything from a tin, that's fine," Mickey waved his hand carelessly. 

 

"Why don't you tell her yourself?" She challenged playfully, putting a hand on the door. 

 

"I'm not that brave," he grinned at her. 

 

"Oh, I don't know..." She smiled st him, then opened the door. I heard a sharp scream before the door closed again, so I stood up straight.  

 

"Rose?" Mickey called worryingly, dropping the metal cup, going near the door. "Stay here," he ordered and I nodded. 

 

He left for a few seconds, leaving me with the man. Suddenly, he came back and slammed the door shut, and my eyes widened, "Mickey?" I called, with no response.  

 

I frowned, he told me to stay here. I don't want to be punished if I didn't. So, I sat on the spot, staring at the man who laid on the ground. I sniffed, smelling something odd, which was coming from the sideways metal cup, with juice spilling out.  

 

I frowned and moved to go pick it up, when suddenly something grabbed my hand. My eyes widened in shock, and I nearly screamed, moving as fast as I could away from the sleeping man.  

 

"Sorry 'bout that, Auggie," the man groaned, moving to sit upright.  

 

"I'm not Auggie. I'm Subject August.23," I corrected, and he stared at me oddly. 

 

"Yeah... We'll fix that later," he sighed. "Right now," he picked up the metal cup. "Good ol' tea, all I needed to patch me right up!" He lopsidedly grinned at me, but I simply stared, who was this man? Was he working with the Director?  

 

"Where's Rose?" He finally asked, striding towards the doors that I pointed to, and smiled. "Well c'mon then, no need to stand around!" He grabbed my hand and helped me up. 

 

When he opened the door, all eyes turned to him, "Did you miss me?" He asked and Rose smiles in delight. The alien in the center roared with fury, throwing his whip out. The man easily caught it and tossed it on the ground. "You could have someone's eye out with that!" He scolded. 

 

The alien roared again, charging us with his staff. I easily evaded it, and brought my arm down on the base of the alien neck, stopping him mid-run, and he fell on the ground. The Doctor picked up the  staff and snapped it over his knee. "You just can't get the staff. Now, you, just wait. I'm busy," he pointed to the alien warningly, who stared at him like he was crazy. 

 

"Mickey! Hello!" He greeted the dark-skinned man by wrapping his arms around him. Then he turned to the old woman, "And Harriet Jones MP for Flydale North! Blimey, it's like 'This Is Your Life'!" Finally, he beamed at Rose, "Tea! That's all I needed! A good cup of tea! Superheated infusion of free radicals and tannin. Just the thing for healing the synapses..." He paused, his happy face dropping, "Now... first thing's first... be honest. How do I look?" 

 

Rose stared at him oddly(who wouldn't)," Um... different." 

 

"Good different or bad different?" 

 

"Just... Different." 

 

He looked at her, deadly serious, "Am I... ginger?" 

 

Rose's eyes moved to his wild hair, "No, you're just sort of brown." 

 

He turned away, as if to pout, "Aww, I wanted to be ginger. I've never been ginger." He turned back, pointing at Rose violently, "And you, Rose Tyler, fat lot of good you were -- you gave up on me-- oh, that's rude. That's the sort of man I am now, am I? Rude." He stopped to think this, "Rude and not ginger." 

 

"I'm sorry -- who is this?" The older woman, who I recognized from the television earlier. 

 

"I'm the Doctor," the man grinned. 

 

"He's the Doctor," Rose answered. 

 

"But what happened to my Doctor?" The woman asked, "Or is it a title that's just passed on?" 

 

He walked towards her, hands in pockets, "I'm him. I'm literally him. Same man, new face -- well, new everything," he admitted but she was still not convinced.  

 

"But you can't be," she insisted. 

 

"Harriet Jones. We were trapped in Downing Street, and the one thing that scared you wasn't the aliens... wasn't the war... it was the thought of your mother being on her own," he told her. 

 

Her eyes widened, not in horror, but in shock, "Oh, my god," she gasped. 

 

He bent down slightly, "Did you win the election?" He asked and she smiled pleasingly.  

 

"Landslide majority," she bragged. 

 

"If I might interrupt!" A voice said behind me, making me jump. I turned around to see the alien staring at us. 

 

"Yes! Sorry! Hello, big fella!" He laughed, going over. 

 

"Who exactly are you?" The alien asked. 

 

The man -- the Doctor apparently -- grinned, "Well. That's the question." 

 

"I demand to know who you are!" He demanded. 

 

"I DON'T KNOW!" The Doctor shouted, imitating the alien and making me jump, slightly. He relaxes a second later, which somewhat calms my nerves, "See, there's the thing. I'm the Doctor, but beyond that, I-- I just don't know. I literally do not know who I am. It's all untested." 

 

He walked around, as if to address everyone, "Am I funny? Am I sarcastic?" He looked at Rose, "Sexy?" He winks cheekily at her, who smiled shyly.  

 

"Right old misery? Life and soul?" He continued, "Right-handed? Left-handed? A gambler? A fighter? A coward? A traitor? A liar? A nervous wreck? I mean, judging by the evidence, I've certainly got a gob." He looked up, noticing a giant button on top of a table, "And how am I gonna react when I see this?" 

 

He ran up the steps with a insane smile on his face. "A Great Big Threatening Button Which Must Not Be Pressed Under Any Circumstances. Am I right? Let me guess, it's some sort of control matrix? Hmm? Hold on, what's feeding it?" He opened a small door on the bottom and the sharp waft of blood came out. 

 

"And what've we got here? Blood?" He dipped his finger in, tasting it. "Yeah, definitely. Blood. Human blood. A Positive. With just a dash of iron." He wiped his finger on the gown,"Ahh. But that means... blood control--" his eyes widened in delight. Blood control! Oh! I haven't seen blood control for years! You're controlling all the A Positives! 

 

"Which leaves us with a great big stinking problem. 'Cos... I really don't know who I am. I don't know when to stop. So if I see a Great Big Threatening Button Which Should Never Ever Be Pressed... then I just wanna do this," finally, he whacked the button, hard.  

 

"NO!" Rose and the woman shouted. 

 

"You killed them!" A man accused, shockingly. 

 

"What do you think, big fella?" The Doctor turned to the alien, "Are they dead?" 

 

"We allow them to live," the alien grunted angrily. 

 

He rolled his eyes, "Allow? You've no choice! I mean, that's all blood control is. Cheap bit of voodoo. Scares the pants off you, but that's as far as it goes. It's like hypnosis -- you can hypnotize someone to walk like a chicken or sing like Elvis, you can't hypnotize them to death. Survival instinct's too strong." 

 

"Blood control was just one form of conquest," the alien growled. "I can summon the armada and take this world by force." 

 

"Well, yeah, you could, yeah, you could do that - of course you could. But why? Look at these people," he gestured to Rose and them, passionately. "These human beings. Consider their potential. From the day they arrive on the planet and blinking step into the sun. There is more to see than can ever be seen. More to do than-- no, hold on..." He paused to think, "Sorry, that's 'The Lion King'. We should watch that. Amazing movie. Cried when Mufasa died. But the point still stands. Leave them alone!" 

 

"Or what?" He demanded. 

 

"Or..." He snatched a sword off one of the guards and ran in front of us, "I challenge you."  

 

The alien, alone with all the other aliens, burst out laughing. "Oh, that struck a chord," the Doctor frowned, not lowering his sword. "Am I right that the sanctified rules of combat still apply?" 

 

The alien came down the step, unsheathing his own sword, "You stand as this world's champion." 

 

He shrugged off the blue dress, leaving his striped button up shirt, "Thank you. I've no idea who I am, but you just summed me up." He tossed Rose the blue dress. "So -- you accept my challenge? Or are you just a cranak pel casacree salvak?" 

 

The alien hissed and they both kneeled by their swords, "For the planet?" The alien asked. 

 

"For the planet," he nodded and then they began.  

 

Their swords clashed and banged against each other. I watch, wincing whenever a loud squeaking noise emitted from the swords' friction against each other. Finally, the Doctor is thrown aside, "Look out!" Rose cried. 

 

"Oh, yeah, that helped," he said sarcastically. "Wouldn't have thought of that otherwise, thanks." They began to fight up the stairs, and we followed behind intently. "Bit of fresh air?" He asked and went outside. 

 

They fought outside, bashing and slashing swords. The alien got the Doctor in the nose, making him stumble back. Rose tried to run to him, but he held his hand out for her to stop, "Stay back!" He shouted at her, "Invalidate the challenge and he wins the planet." 

 

Rose frowned disapprovingly, but stepped back, and they kept fighting. Finally, the alien pushed the Doctor to the ground, near the edge. Using this to his advantage, he promptly chopped it off. The Doctor watched the disembodied arm fall to the ground, then turned to the alien. I didn't know if he was angry or annoyed, "You cut my hand off," he stated, stunned. 

 

"YAH! Sycorax!" The alien shouted triumphantly. 

 

The Doctor moved to his feet, "And now I know what sort of man I am. I'm lucky," he chuckled. "'Cos quite by chance... I'm still within the first fifteen hours of my regeneration cycle. Which means I've got just enough residual cellular energy... to do this." He held up his missing hand and we watched as it easily grew back.  

 

"Witchcraft," the alien spat. 

 

"Time Lord," he corrected. 

 

Rose took a sword from one of the alien guards, "Doctor!" She shouted, tossing him the sword. 

 

He caught it by the handle easily, "Oh, so I'm still the Doctor, then?" 

 

"No arguments from me!" She smiled. 

 

He turned to the alien, "Wanna know the best bit? This new hand... It's a fightin' hand!" He shouted in an odd voice, and fought the hand. 

 

With his new hand, and new-founded strength, he easily over-powered the alien by jabbing him multiple times in the stomach with the hilt of the sword until he finally fell over. The Doctor points the sword to his throat, "I win." 

 

"Then kill me," the alien croaked, seemingly finding it hard to speak. 

 

"I'll spare your life if you'll take this champion's command," the Doctor said. "Leave this planet, and never return. What do you say?" 

 

"Yes." 

 

The Doctor pushes the sword closer, "Swear on the blood of your species," he said angrily. 

 

"I swear," the alien labouredly answered. 

 

The Doctor smiled and moved away from him, "There we are, then! Thanks for that! Cheers, big fella!" He jabbed the sword into the ground. 

 

The old woman began to clap, "Bravo!" 

 

Rose rushed forward to the Doctor, "That says it all. Bravo!" She smiled putting the blue dress on him as I walked over behind her. 

 

"Yeah!" He grinned, "Not bad for a man in his jim-jams! Very Arthur Dent. Now, there was a nice man. Hold on, what have I got in here?" He reached into his pocket, pulling out a small, orange object, "A satsuma. Ah, that friend of your mothers -- he does like his snacks doesn't he? But doesn't that just sum up Christmas?" 

 

He tossed the orange object in the air, smiling. "You go through all those presents and right at the end, tucked away at the bottom, there's always one stupid old satsuma," he turned to me, holding out the orange thing. "Who wants a satsuma?" 

 

I heard a shuffling and whipped my head around to see the alien charging the Doctor with a sword. I turned around to see the Doctor throwing the orange object at a button in the wall, making the ground break underneath his feet, falling to his death. 

 

"No second chances," the Doctor said coldly, his silly smile gone. "I'm that sort of a man." 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

"By the ancient rites of combat, I forbid you to scavenge here for the rest of time," the Doctor commanded the alien people. "And when go you back to the stars and tell others of this planet... when you tell them of its riches -- its people -- its potential. When you talk of the Earth, then make sure that you tell them this: It -- is -- defended!" And with that, we teleported away. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

After his little speech, we appeared back on what looked like an empty street. "Where are we?" Rose asked, looking around. 

 

"We're just off Bloxom Road. We're just round the corner, we did it!" Mickey exclaimed, jumping up and down in glee.  

 

The Doctor frowned, holding up a hand, "Wait a minute... wait a minute..." He looked at the sky, where the ship still lingered. After a few seconds of suspenseful waiting, it finally left, and flew out of the sky.  

 

"Go on, my son!" Mickey shouted gleefully, "Oh, yeah!" 

 

Rose jumped on Mickey's back, "Yeah! Don't come back!" She shouted, making the Doctor chuckle. 

 

"It is defended!" They shouted, happily. The Doctor went to go talk to the old lady, I just watched them shout and laugh. Eventually, Rose's mom came too, and yelled at Rose for leaving her. They were... Happy? 

 

Finally, they turned to me, "C'mon, Auggie, let's celebrate," Rose smiled, but I rose and eyebrow. 

 

"I am not Auggie," I frowned. "I'm Subject August.23." At this, the Doctor spun around and looked at me. 

 

"Why do you keep saying that?" The Doctor asked, frowning at me. 

 

"The Director said that I was not Augusta or 'Auggie'," I explained, as the Doctor slowly stepped towards me. "I am Subject August.23." 

 

"But why?" He pulled out a metal stick and pointed it at me. "You were gone for a week. That shouldn't have been long for you to be brainwashed." 

 

"Doctor," Rose spoke up, but he didn't look at her. 

 

"One week. What could they have possibly done to you over the span of one week?" He continued. 

 

"Doctor," Rose intervened, moving over to us, and he turned to her his attention."She said... She wasn't there for a week... She was there for a year and a half." 

 

The Doctor's eyes slowly widened, and he turned to me, "You...? Oh... Oh Auggie, I'm so sorry," he apologized, his eyes filled with sadness. 

 

I blinked, "I am not Auggie," I said again. "I'm Subject August.23." I keep telling them this but they keep calling me this 'Auggie.' Why? Who was this 'Auggie' anyway? 

 

He ran a hand threw his hand and sighed, "No. No you're you're not. You're Auggie, you just don't quite remember it." He messed up my hair, and I stared at him.  

 

"Fire at will." A humming filled the air, making me take a step back in surprise. Then a large, loud beam shot the ship that was just leaving the earth's atmosphere, four more coming after that, exploding it instantly. 

 

I stared in horror at the sky, I could hear screaming, sharp, loud, terrified screaming. My eyes welled with tears as it suddenly stopped. They were dead. 

 

I glared at the woman, who I heard give the command, "That was murder!" I shouted to her, who looked at me like I was insane. "You killed them!" 

 

"You will not speak to the Prime Minister in that tone, little girl," the man beside her growled, and I glared intensely at him. 

 

"You think I give a damn if she's the Prime Minister or not!?" I hissed, my eyes flashing red, and he back up. "You killed everyone on that ship!" 

 

"They threatened the humanity," she answered easily. "A child like you might not understand." 

 

"A child like me might just kick your--" 

 

"Auggie!" Rose shouted, pulling me back.  

 

"She killed them!" I shouted, pulling my arm away, "They were defenseless and she murdered them." 

 

"I did what I had to do to protect my country," she snapped. 

 

"No you didn't," I glared, my eyes burning red and everyone took a step back. "You did it to show your power. That wasn't defense, it was genocide!" My eyes were a dark, crimson red, that made everyone stare at me in shock.  

 

I turned on my heel and walked away without another word. I eventually made it to Rose's apartment, and sat outside waiting for everyone else. 

 

Eventually, they too rounded around the corner and spotted me on the doorstep. Rose jogged over to me, "You could've let yourself in." 

 

"Door's locked and it's still dangerous for me to control the metal," I explained. "I'm pretty sure it's not the best idea to melt the doorknob and let myself in." 

 

Rose chuckled, nodding approvingly. I noticed that the Doctor was staring intently at me, and I think Rose did too, because she patted my back lightly, "We'll be inside." With that she ushered everyone inside the small apartment, leaving just me and the Doctor. 

 

He strode up the steps with ease and sat on the top one beside me. We were quiet for a few minutes, the sound of people walking down the street and the occasion car passing or animal making noise was all I heard. Finally, he broke the awkward silence, "Are you okay?"  

 

I glanced at the man, "Why wouldn't I be?" 

 

"Last I checked, you nearly died. Again," he answered. 

 

"Controlled too much metal. I'm not used to controlling that much," I answered. 

 

Another pause, "So. You're a elementist," he said, and I nodded. "Why didn't you tell me you could do that, Auggie?" 

 

"I'm not Auggie," I told him.  

 

"Yes you are. You were tortured for a year so you just don't remember," he sighed. "I'm so sorry. I should've looked harder. Then maybe--" 

 

"I don't care," I interrupted. "I was there for a year. I just don't care anymore." 

 

"You cared enough to tell the Prime Minister off," he commented. 

 

"She murdered innocent people, which was uncalled for," I frowned. "I probably shouldn't have. If the Director finds out then--" 

 

"He won't," the Doctor promised. "He isn't here. He won't be here either." 

 

"He always comes for me," I murmured, resting my head on my knees. "I close my eyes and I see him. Like he's burning into my mind forever," I paused. "Doctor, I'm scared." 

 

"There's nothing to be afraid of," he assured.  

 

"He's gonna come back," I insisted. "And when he does... He's going to kill me." I looked at him, "I don't want him to kill me. I want to kill myself first." 

 

His eyes widened, "What!? Don't say that! You don't know what you're talking about." 

 

"It's true," I looked away. "If he comes, then he's going to try to kill me. If I kill myself, then he won't come." 

 

"You don't have to commit suicide," he exclaimed. "Auggie, please just listen to me--" 

 

"I'm not Auggie. I'm Subject August.23," I told him seriously. "I'm a Subject. I'm a thing. I'm a mistake. I'm not supposed to be alive anyway. I was created to kill you and I couldn't even get that right. Then, I killed hundreds of other innocent people," I looked at him, my eyes glistening with tears. "I'm not Auggie. I'm not Augusta. I'm a monster." 

 

He stared at me, I couldn't read all the emotions that flooded his face at once. He tightened his jaw, "I won't let you." He finally said.  

 

"What?" I rose an eyebrow, was he working with the Director? Did he not want me to kill myself because the Director wanted to?  

 

"I'm not gonna let you give up like that," he explained. "You're fourteen-- fifteen now. You have a life ahead of you filled with so many things! I'm not going to let you end it now. It's not fair to me or to Rose." 

 

"I don't want to get taken by him anymore," I tried to beg. "I don't want anyone to get hurt anymore." 

 

"How do you even know he's still alive?" He demanded angrily. 

 

I didn't answer, I just stared at the ground, so the Doctor continued. "Auggie,--" 

 

"I'm not Auggie." 

 

"-- you can't just throw your life away like that," he continued. "You're unique. You're special. You're the first human-elementist I've ever seen! Hell, you're the first elementist I've seen. Probably the last of your kind. Don't throw it away like that. It's not right." 

 

"I don't want to be the last of my kind! I don't want to be a kind! I don't want to be a elementist!" I looked at him, my eyes full of pain, "I don't want... Anything. I just want to be done. I don't want to be the monster anymore." 

 

"You're not a monster." 

 

"Yes I am," I muttered. "I killed all those people on Platform 500. I killed all those people in their old base too. Since I'm an elementist, I'm a monster."  

 

"You can't control who you are," the Doctor said. 

 

"But I can control what I do," I argued. "I didn't have to kill those scientist. I didn't have to kill those innocent people, but I'm a monster and I couldn't control it." I paused, "If you don't want me to kill myself, then why don't you kill me?" 

 

"Nobody is killing anybody," he growled. "That includes this Director you keep talking about." 

 

I stared at him for a few seconds. Then I help out my hand and summoned a small flame. I saw him turn to it wide-eyed, "Fire is destructive. It kills people. It'll kill you. I don't want to kill people. I don't want anyone else to get hurt." 

 

"Then don't," he replied. "I'll help you control it. We can find a way." 

 

I shook my head, no, balling my fist and making the flame disappear, "I'll still have it. And that means that the Director can still use it." 

 

"And? We can help. Just let us," he begged. "Nobody has to get hurt."  

 

I turned away, leaning my head on my knees, "Monsters always hurt people. Whether they like to or not." 

 

"You're not a monster." 

 

"But I've killed people. I watched them die and didn't say anything. I laughed." 

 

"That wasn't you. That was someone else taking over your mind." 

 

I shook my head, "That was me. I remember it." 

 

"Auggie please don't do this to yourself," he pleaded. "Please." 

 

When I didn't answer, he sighed and pulled me close to him. I felt heartbeat(s?) beating rhythmically in his chest. "You're not a monster. You'll never be." 

 

"You watched me kill them, didn't you you? You think I'm a monster." 

 

"I think that you were just confused." 

 

"I didn't stop." 

 

"You couldn't help it." 

 

"It was all my fault." 

 

"No it wasn't." 

 

"All those people... They screamed and yelled for me to stop but I didn't," tears dripped off my face. "What's wrong with me? Why am I like this? Why me?" 

 

"There's nothing wrong with you." 

 

"Everything is wrong with me." 

 

"Don't say that, you're perfect just the way you are." 

 

"I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to be the monster anymore. I don't want to have to worry when people touch me or wait for punishment to come. I don't want to do that. I just-- I just want to be normal." 

 

"Oh Auggie," he sighed, "There's no such thing as normal. Nobody's 'normal' in a way. Everyone's different. Every single organism in this universe is different and special in its own unique way. It has a purpose and so do you. It would be impossible to be 'normal'. Just be yourself." 

 

"... The Director told me my purpose was to kill you, and I couldn't do it." 

 

"You can't just have people tell you your purpose. That's not how it works. You," he poked my chest lightly, "Have got to find it yourself." He smiled down at me, his light brown eyes sparkling. "Understand?"  

 

I nodded and he stood up, "Good because I've got to go get changed. Can't stay in a dressing gown all morning," he lopsidedly smirked. "Tell Rose I'll be in the TARDIS." He messed up my long hair and began to head down the steps. 

 

I watched as he turned the corner before going into the apartment myself, luckily finding the door unlocked. Rose, Mickey and Rose's mom were cleaning up the room that the crazy tree messed up, and they looked nearly done with it.  

 

"Hey Auggie, where'd the Doctor pop off to?" Rose asked, fixing the last chair. 

 

I was about to tell her I wasn't Auggie, but stopped myself, "He said to tell you he went to the TARDIS." 

 

"Okay. Well, mum's cooking dinner, do you want to go--" her voice was cut off because I had already entered the bedroom. I flipped the light switch on and fell on top of the bed exhaustingly.  

 

"I'm tired of waiting to be punished," I murmured to myself. "The Director could come at any point. I'm not going to wait for him..." 

 

With those sad thoughts, I drifted off to sleep.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

"Back for more?" The Director's voice said making me shoot up. My body was chained to the wall, again, my arms handing over my head and my feet bounded to the floor. I felt like my body was being stretched thin.  

 

I saw a glistening object shine in the Director's hands and my eyes widened. "You've caused me so much trouble, monster," he sighed. "After you ran with that Time Lord, every blamed me for the casualties. Tormenting you one of the few pleasures I gain at the current moment." He laughed, "Best part: I can hurt you all you want and you won't die!"  

 

My eyes widened, but I kept the rising panicked thoughts silent, "Ah, yes. You see, you're not actually here. Nope, this is just the remains of a psychic link that I," he cut himself off and sighed. "Well, why am I explaining this to you? You're too dumb to understand. Let's just get on with the fun parts, shall we?" 

 

Without warning, he plunged the knife in my side and I gasped in pain, blood splattering out of my mouth. He grinned maliciously, "Don't you see, Subject August.23? You can't die here and as long as you're here, I can torture you as much as I want..."  

 

He stabbed me again, this time in the chest and I screamed, white-hot pain shooting through my body. Tears flowed down my cheeks and he laughed, dragging the rigid knife down my arms, leaving long, bloody lines.  

 

"Tell me, Subject August.23, what's your name?" He inquired, as he made short lines down my arms. 

 

"A--" a sharp pain filled my body, and I bit my lip. 

 

"WRONG!" He shouted again, his knife jabbing deeper in my arm. "What's your name?!"  

 

"S-S-Sub-Subject--" he sighed dramatically. 

 

"Do stop stuttering or I'll hurt you more."  

 

I gulped, "S-Subject Augu-August.23," I finally said, and he grinned. 

 

"Bingo!" he cheered, but his smile quickly fell, "You're the Monster. You'll always be the monster. Never ever forget that." His knife slashed across my throat and everything turned black. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

I quickly grabbed the hands that were shaking me, my eyes snapped open, to see a man staring at me worryingly. Ice crawled up his skin and he glanced down, his eyes widening and I quickly let go, stopping the ice before it could do any real damage. 

 

I moved away from the man, trying to ball myself up and block out the world. Memories from the dream still raw in my mind. "Auggie, it was just a dream," the man said, trying to comfort me, but I just shook my head moving away. 

 

Was the Director coming? Was he going to take me?! Was that just him showing me my punishment? I could almost hear his footsteps walking against the stone flooring, and panic rose in my chest. I saw ice spread our on the bed and quickly on the floor, covering everything, and the man took a step back. 

 

"Auggie, calm down, it was just a dream!" The man shouted but that didn't stop my body from violently shaking.  

 

Then the man jumped at me, wrapping his arms over my body, "Hey, hey. Auggie, calm down. It was just a dream, okay? Just a nightmare, no need to be scared, okay? Shh, shh... It'll all be okay... It'll all be okay..."  

 

My shaking slowed to a stop and the man looked at me, "See? No need to worry. Just a dream..." He smiled at me. 

 

"I... I..." I stuttered, moving away. I had a nightmare, and he was holding me? Why? What is he doing? Why is he holding me like this? It was just like when we were outside.  

 

"You okay?" He asked after a few minutes.  

  

I nodded and he smirked, "Good. Can you unfreeze me now?" I blinked and looked at him, the lower half of his clothes were frozen to my body. I also noticed his nose was turning blue. 

 

"S-Sorry," I stammered and quickly tried to warm him back up. "I just-- usually I have a metal collar that keeps them from not working or--" 

 

"A collar?!" He exclaimed, wiggling his fingers. "I'm not putting a collar on you! I have something much... Humane-er." Once he was able to move his arm, he reached into his pockets and pulled out elbow length gloves. "Now that I know what you are, I had the TARDIS make these. It's made out of a special material that's controls temperatures. When it's hot, it'll turn cold and vice versa. Thought it'd fit your situation." He smiled and watched me put them on, flexing my fingers to get used to the new material. "Think of it as your Christmas gift." 

 

I frowned, "Christmas? What's-- oh, you mean that day that Rose's mom told me about? Where people, um, celebrated a dead baby?" 

 

He snicked, "Yeah, something like that." 

 

Suddenly, Rose bursts through the door, "Hey Doctor, Auggie, we're opening presents. Wanna join us?" 

 

I blinked, "Presents?" What did she say those were for again?  

 

"It's a custom they do," the Doctor explained, grabbing my, newly gloved, hands out of the bed. "C'mon, let's go! Presents are the best part!" 

 

We went into the room where Rose's mom and Mickey sat in front of a big mound of multi-colored boxes. "C'mon, they're not gonna unwrap themselves!" 

 

Rose dragged me to a chair, sitting me in it, and placing a colorful box in my lap. I looked at it, then turned to the Doctor, who smiled, but not helping me.  

 

Finally I took the box, and ripped the top open, finding a lot of paper. Taking out the gray papers, I finally found a small, silver device on the bottom. I picked it up, "What is it?" 

 

"It's a cellphone," Rose grinned. "Thought you'd want to call us if something happened. I already put Mickey's, Mum's, and my numbers in it. And the Doctor made it universally accessible, so you won't have a problem with it!" She beamed. 

 

I looked at the Doctor, who laughed at my confused expression, "I... Uhm, thank you," I managed to say, and Rose laughed, messing up my hair.  

 

Next, Rose's mom came over, and gave me a rectangular white box, which I decided, judging by the last one, I was suppose to open.  

 

Lifting the cover I found a dark blue article of clothing. It was fluffy and thick, and when I pulled it out of the box, very long. "Wha-what is it?" I asked looking at it, very confused. 

 

"It's a scarf, silly," She laughed. "Had a friend make it a while back, thought you might like it." 

 

"Thank you," I nodded, placing the scarf down. Then I frowned, "I was supposed to get everyone else something too, wasn't I?" I suddenly said, and Rose's smile fell. 

 

"Oh, it's okay. You don't have to--" she wasn't able to finish because I had ran out of the room, not before grabbing three sheets of paper and a pen. I went into the bed room and closed the door shut, locking it behind me. 

 

"Augg--" 

 

"Give me... Ten minutes," I called back, the pen rapidly going over the paper.  

 

There was silence on the other side. Then, exactly ten minutes later, I opened up the door, and walked out of the room. "Auggie?" Rose said, hesitantly. 

 

"Sorry, I didn't know that I had to give you something too..." I began to say, trying to find the words as I went. "Here. It's not as good as yours, but I thought you guys would like it." 

 

I passed out each paper to each person, and one by one, their eyes bulged. "Auggie, this is... Phenomenal!" The Doctor exclaimed, staring at the picture. "How did you do this in ten minutes!?" 

 

I looked away. I had given them each a portrait of themselves, that I had to go off of from memory. The Doctor's was different because he had two people on his, one was this Doctor and separated by a diagonal line running across the page, was the old Doctor. 

 

"Who did you sell your soul to in ten minutes to draw like this!?" Mickey asked jokingly, but I frowned. 

 

"No one. I thought I needed my soul," I said as Rose and Rose's mom passed each other their pictures to see.  

 

"It-it was a joke," he sighed. 

 

"Really, this is... Blimey... I don't think I've ever been able to draw like this. 

 

"It was rushed. I should've taken longer or--" 

 

"It's perfect," Rose assured. "I couldn't has asked for a better present." She smiled sweetly, and I kept my eyes trained on the floor. 

 

The rest of the time went to us watching the television where the old woman, who was apparently a Prime Minister, stepped down from office, whatever that meant.  

 

Anyways, Rose put on some kind of 'song' about Christmas and they gathered around the table to eat. She also turned the television to a show about a man made from snow, which seemed really weird. He apparently talked to kids and spread 'Christmas spirit'.  

 

Very weird. 

 

On the table was more food than I had ever seen in my entire life. But, when I looked at it, something made me hesitate. I began to wonder if the Director poisoned it with something that could take away my powers, like he usually did. I looked down, the Doctor said he wasn't here, but he could be anywhere since he could hide away from someone's vision.  

 

Because of this hesitation, I refused to eat the food, just in case. Rose's mom, who I've now been told was 'Jackie' didn't like this idea. "What!? You're skin and bones, you've gotta eat somethin'!"  

 

I didn't look at her, "I-I'm sorry... I'm just... Not hungry..." With that, I pushed away from the table and went to go hide away in the bedroom.  

 

Sitting down in the bed, I looked down at my hands. Was I being mean? Was that... Rude? I didn't want to be mean, but I also didn't want to be poisoned. This is all so... So complicated! I don't want to do this anymore! I buried my hands in my face and sighed deeply. 

 

I heard the door creak open. I looked up to see the Doctor standing in the doorway, "You okay?" I saw in his hands was a plate filled with the food from the table. 

 

"I don't want to eat and be poisoned," I admitted. "The Director used to do that all the time..." 

 

"You're not gonna be poisoned," he laughed. "Trust me." 

 

"I don't know if I can," I murmured and his smile fell. 

 

He moved and sat at the foot of the bed, setting the plate down, but tore off a piece of chicken, and shoved it in his mouth. "See? If it were poisoned, I'd probably be dead," he said. "Besides, I'd never give you poisoned food." 

 

I pressed my lips together and looked down at the plate, which was still slightly steaming. I sighed and ate a bit of the chicken and the green stuff, which nearly made me puke.  

 

He smiled, "There's nothing to be afraid of anymore. I'm here now. I'm going to protect you." 

 

"I don't know that." I muttered. 

 

"I do know that," he smiled. "Now hurry up and eat." 

 

I sighed, but at a few more pieces of meat before pushing it away, not wanting to eat anymore. I saw the Doctor frown, but not say anything else.  

 

"Hey Auggie," Rose poked her head inside the room. "Come outside, I wanna show you something!" Her voice was excited and a large smile on her face.  

 

I got off the bed and followed her down the steps and outside, where there was billions of greyish-white particles falling from the sky. "It's snowing!" Rose exclaimed, running around.  

 

I blinked and caught one out of the air, sniffing it, but sneezed. The Doctor came out behind me, and Rose beamed at his presence. "Oh, it's beautiful. What are they, meteors?" She asked the man, who frowned. I bent down to the ground, examining whatever this 'snow' thing was. 

 

"It's the spaceship breaking up in the atmosphere," the Doctor explained. "This isn't snow, it's ash." 

 

Her smile fell, "Okay, not so beautiful..." 

 

"This is a brand new planet Earth," the Doctor said. "No denying the existence of aliens now -- everyone saw it. Everything's new." 

 

"And what about you? Rose asked, her voice somewhat hesitant. "What are you gonna do next?" 

 

"Well... back to the TARDIS... same old life," he answered with a bit of a shrug. 

 

"What about Auggie?" She asked, her voice getting softer, and I glanced up.  

 

He sighed, "I honestly don't know. Try to get her memories back? Find someway to help her? I'll think about it." 

 

"On-- on your own?" She stuttered tentatively. 

 

"Why, don't you wanna come?" He gave somewhat of a grin.  

 

Her face lit up, "Well, yeah." 

 

"Do you, though?" He asked again, taking a step toward her. 

 

"Yeah!" She grinned. 

 

"I just thought... 'cos I changed..." He trailed off. 

 

"Yeah, I... I thought, 'cos you changed... you might not want me anymore," she frowned, but he smiled. 

 

"Oh, I'd love you to come!" He beamed sincerely, making her smile. 

 

"Okay!" 

 

Unbeknownst to the four of them, I had walked back inside. Finding a bucket, I went to the sink and filled it entirely with water, then carefully carried it to the top of the steps. 

 

I closed my eyes and focused on carrying the water through the air, and freezing it. Slowly but surely, the water turned into a large mound of white powder, similar to how the 'ashes' looked.  

 

A small smile fell on my face and I threw the snow in the air, replacing it ashes, making the snow flutter down on them.  

 

I hurried down the steps, making Rose and the Doctor turn to me, "Where have you been?" Rose asked, smiling. 

 

My small smile grew and I slowly rose my hands, making all the 'snow' expand and grow heavier. Rose and the Doctor gaped at me, as I quickly made a replica of the mounded/circled snow on the television earlier with the white thing they called a 'snow man'.  

 

"Wo-woah," Mickey gasped when I had finished with a smile.  

 

"What's this for, Auggie?" The Doctor asked. "How did you make this anyway? It wasn't snow, it was ash." 

 

"I made the snow from the water in Rose's house," I explained. "I saw the man of snow on the television earlier. I thought you'd like it if I made one..." I trailed off. 

 

"You can control water!?" Mickey exclaimed, "That's your power? You're -- like -- a waterbender?!" 

 

I stared at him in confusion, "'Waterbender'...?" I had no clue what that was. 

 

"It doesn't matter," Rose laughed. "This is awesome Auggie! Thank you!" 

 

I smiled at her, "You're welcome."  

 

She grinned, messing up my hair, "Well, we were just getting ready to go. Where to first, Doctor?" 

 

"Um... That way," he answered, pointing at the sky, but frowned a bit. "No, hold on... that way." He moved his hand a bit. 

 

"That way?" Rose questioned, pointing in the same direction.  

 

"Hmm?" He turned to her. 

 

She smiled softly, "That way..." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta.
> 
> Please do not copy.


	22. C H A P T E R  T W E N T Y

Chapter 21: 

Augusta's POV 

"Please, stop," the man cried as I backed him into a corner. "I-I have a wife! Kids, even! Please, don't kill me!!" 

 

I stared at him blankly, but a long, devilish smile fell on my lips. I leaned close to his body, my lips brushing against his ear. "No," I whispered, and snapped his neck. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

I shot up gasping, looking around. I was in the TARDIS, the Doctor was moving about the metal board. "You let me fall asleep," I announced to him, and he didn't even turning to look at me. 

 

"You seemed awfully tired," he answered. "Have a nightmare?" 

 

I didn't answer and moved off the chair, "Where's Rose?" I asked. He glanced at me as he pushed up a lever -- with much effort -- probably seeing how I dodged the question.  

 

"She's--" he was cut off by the door swinging open.  

 

"So, where are we going?" Rose asked, setting a bag on the floor.  

 

"Farther than we've ever gone before," he grinned and pulled down the lever. The room began to rumble and move. I stumbled to the side, holding on to the bar, and a few seconds later, it stopped.  

 

Rose beamed, and turned to me, "Here you go, Auggie." She tossed me a white object, which I caught. It was the scarf Jackie gave me, "Left it at mum's flat." 

 

"Oh, sorry," I murmured, holding the scarf. "So... How do I...?" 

 

"Oh, lemme help you," the Doctor offered and wrapped the scarf around my neck, letting it hang over. It almost went down to my fingertips. "There!" He beamed, "Now, let's go!" He ran to the doors, opening it, Rose and I right behind him.  

 

The first thing I noticed was that the air smelled... Weird. Not a bad weird, like suffocating weird. Like, strange weird. Like a pinkish-weird. The second was the long field of high grass and a large city with flying cars zooming around the city.  

 

Rose and I awed at the sight, "It's the year five billion and twenty-three..." The Doctor announced, "We're in the galaxy M87, and this... this is New Earth." 

 

"That's just... that's--" Rose said, speechless. Then, she let out a laugh. 

 

The Doctor nodded in approval, "Not bad. Not bad at all!" 

 

"That's amazing," she finally said. "I'll never get used to this. Never. Different ground beneath my feet!" She jumped up and down on the grass. 

 

"What's that smell?" I wondered, looking down tracing where the odd smell came from. "It smells... Pink, I think..." I paused for a few seconds, "Have I... Said that before...?" 

 

The both of them stared at me, "You mean sweet," the Doctor finally corrected. 

 

I nodded, my eyes floating over to the city, "Yeah. Sweet... That's what I meant..." 

 

"It's apple grass," he said, picking at the grass and showing it to her.  

 

"Apple grass...!" Rose awed, staring at the brownish-green grasses. 

 

"Yeah, yeah!" He grinned and she beamed. 

 

"It's beautiful," she looked at him. "Oh, I love this. Can I just say..." She linked her arm in his, "... Travelling with you... I love it." 

 

"Me too," he agreed, and they both shared a small laugh. "C'mon," he took our hands and ran into the long, grassy field. 

 

The Doctor finally stopped and threw his long brown coat on the ground, he and Rose sat on it while I sat off to the side. "So, the year five billion -- the sun expands, the Earth gets roasted," he summarized. 

 

Rose smiled broadly, "That was our first date." 

 

He leaned back on the jacket, "We had chips!" They both laughed again at the thought of the unfamiliar day. "So anyway, planet gone, all rocks and dust, but the human race lives on, spread out across the stars. Soon as the Earth burns up -- oh, yeah, they get all nostalgic -- big revival movement... but find this place!" 

 

He sat up, his eyes fixed on the towering city, "Same size as the Earth... same air... same orbit... lovely!" He continued, "Call goes out, the humans move in!" 

 

"What's the city called?" Rose asked, a hint of curiosity in her voice. 

 

"New New York," he answered, and she gave him a skeptic look. 

 

"Oh, come on," she rolled her eyes. 

 

"It is! It's the City of New New York!" He paused, "Strictly speaking, it's the fifteenth New York since the original. So that makes it New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York." They both smile, but there's something in her's that made the Doctor frown. 

 

"What?" He asked. 

 

"You're so different." 

 

"New New Doctor," he smirked and they both laughed again. 

 

As they continued to talk, I picked a piece of grass out, it smelt odd-- sweet. That was the word I used earlier. What was 'sweet' anyway? What does this 'sweet' do? Wha-- 

 

I sharply turned my head, spotting a mechanical spider in the grass, staring at us. I quickly controlled its metal, bringing it to me. There was some kind of camera inside, I could see it.  

 

Bringing two fingers on the top, I pressed down, they easily made a hole in it and I was able to extract the camera. Now being able to take a closer look at it I could-- 

 

Before I could even finish, it began to smoke and burn on my hands, I frowned and dropped it, just as it completely shriveled into itself. Self-destruct system. There's no way I could use it now. 

 

"Auggie, are you coming?" Rose asked, making me glance up.  

 

I blinked at her, "Coming where?" I asked, wiping the small dribble of blood that left my lips before she could see it. 

 

She grinned and took my hand, helping me up. "Doctor wants to check out the hospital real quick." 

 

I nodded, "What's 'the hospital'?" 

 

"It's..." She paused to think, "It's a place where people fix you when you get hurt," she finally answered and I nodded. "A bunch of doctors and nurses work there." 

 

I frowned, "What do you mean?" I thought the Doctor was the only doctor... 

 

"A doctor is someone who fixes people," she explained, smiling a bit.  

 

My mouth made a small 'o', and I nodded, now understanding the basic concept of this 'hospital'.  

 

As soon as we neared this hospital I could tell something wasn't right. A few steps more and I stopped in my tracks, my eyes as wide as saucers and my hands began to tremble. I saw Rose turn to me, "Auggie? What's wrong?" 

 

"This smell... It's the experimenting room..." I whispered to myself in horror, and the Doctor quickly spun around. "It's-It's the experimenting room...! You're bringing me to--" 

 

"No it's not, Auggie," the Doctor said. "It's a hospital. They help people, not hurt people. They aren't experimenting on anyone." 

 

I looked at him, evident fear shone in my eyes. His jaw was tight and his stare was serious yet comforting. I closed my eyes and sighed deeply, "... Fine..." I nodded and he smiled.  

 

"Good," he grinned, and went to grab my hand, gently. "Now, c'mon, they usually have little shops. I always love the little shops." 

 

Finally, we had entered the hospital. I shuddered, feeling all tingly for a second, and listened as the Doctor had been explaining why he didn't really like them in the first place, and Rose laughed at him.  

 

The room smelt clean, sterile probably. Just like the experimenting room. I shuddered and looked around, it was full of people. And animals. And other beings that I haven't seen before. Overall, it was actually interesting. If, of course, I looked past the terrifying memories it brought along with it. 

 

"The Pleasure Gardens will now take visitors carrying green or blue identification cards for the next fifteen minutes," a electronic voice of a woman stated, nearly making me jump. "Visitors are reminded that cuttings from the gardens are not permitted." 

 

Rose and the Doctor began to walk around, talking. My eyes turned to a small girl, who was sitting on the chair. Over the smell of chemicals, I could sharply smell salty tears. 

 

I walked over, the girl had her green hands folding in her lap. Her clothes were rags and dirty, yet I could still hear her sniffling. "You are crying," I stated, sitting next to the girl. 

 

She looked at me, although her skin was a scaly green, her eyes were a murky yellow that were welled with unshed tears. "Th-they say my Mama can't live because she can't pay for it," she sniffed. "All I have left is Mama. I don't wanna leave Mama alone, but they won't let me stay in there." 

 

A frown was placed on my lips, "Maybe I can help." suggested and she didn't react. 

 

"No," she finally answered. 

 

"Why not? I want to help." 

 

"Ma-mama said not to trust strangers..." She trailed off, but I nodded. Just as I did that, I felt a pull on my arm, taking me away.  

 

"C'mon Auggie, we're going," Rose said, puling me away from the young girl. She let go and I glanced at her crying self for one last time, before turning and following the Doctor and Rose.  

 

"Right there," he said, walking over to a elevator, and Rose followed him in. Once I tried to get in with them, the doors quickly shut. 

 

"Doctor," I shouted, going over to the door. 

 

"Sorry, the doors shut," he said back. "Go to Ward 26. And watch out for the--" his voice cut off, and replaced with the upward zooming sound of the elevator.  

 

Watch out for the what, I thought to myself as I entered the other small, metal elevator. "How does this work...?" I frowned, "Uhm... Ward 26?" Suddenly, the doors closed, and my eyes widened. I had a feeling this was a bad idea... 

 

"Commence stage one -- disinfection," a electronic voice says, and suddenly water is showered over me. I gasped, and tried to move away, but I couldn't.  

 

Then, some kind of powder fell on me. I yelped and moved towards the walls. Some got in my nose and I violently sneezed. Finally, heavy air was blown from the ground, drying my soaked and disheveled body. 

 

The doors opened, revealing a man with weird writings covering his face. "The Unspecified Child is clean," he announced. 

 

"Where's the Doctor and Rose?" I asked, looking around. I was in some kind of... Old room, but by the smell of it, someone/thing was here.  

 

"This way," he said, turning around and going the opposite direction. I frowned at him, but followed, tugging on the ends of my gloves, just in case. 

 

At the end of the walkway, there is a television of a lady talking to a man, holding a glass drink in her hand, "I mean, you never know what your life's going to be like!" She laughed, "Ever! I'm bored with this drink. Anyway-- oh, hello darling! Now, don't! Stop it!" She pushed the man playfully in the chest.  

 

"What the he--" I turned around seeing a large piece of tanned skin held in a frame, except it had a mouth and eyes. Beside it was the man, who was gazing longingly at it. 

 

"Peekaboo," she smiled, her red lips pursing. 

 

I stared at her for about five minutes, "Oh, stop staring!" She chided, "It's rude." 

 

I ran a hand through my long hair, "No. No, I've seen you before," I murmured. "Where have I seen you before?!" 

 

"Don't strain yourself," she rolled her eyes. "You might pull something... Elementist," my blood ran cold and my eyes widened. 

 

"How did you know?" I demanded, taking a step away from the woman. 

 

"Don't act like that. What do you think I'm going to do to you? Flap you to death?"  

 

"What about him?" I pointed to the man, who cocked his head in my direction.  

 

"That's Chip. He's my pet," she smirked. 

 

I looked at her, "And... What are you again?" 

 

"I'm human," she hissed, glaringly. Then she sighed, "Name's Cassandra. I'm the Last Human." 

 

"What?" I pulled a strange face, "No you're not." 

 

She frowned at me, "Well, there is that blonde chav, but otherwise, yes, I am. And you are the last Elementist. Well, not pure at least, but pretty damn close, I'll give you that." 

 

A serious expression fell on my face, "How do you know that?" 

 

She scoffed, "Know you? Please, there are all kinds of stories about the wild haired half human, half elementist child that travelled with the Time Lord. Especially after that incident on Platform 500. Got in the history books, actually. Never really believed it until now, when I was able to scan you when you walked in." 

 

I stared at her, "Scan--" I paused. Was that the tingly feeling when I walked in...?  

 

"Yes, scan you, do keep up. Anyway, you're thermal signatures were off the charts. Supposedly a sign of a elementist when they're... Well, jumpy. Luckily, you didn't light anything on fire and give it away, so A plus for secrecy."  

 

I stared at the woman, "Okay, you found me. Now what?" 

 

"You are a friend of the Doctor. You're going to take me to them so I can get out of here," she grinned. "And... Then, when I get a new host at least, I'm going to use you. 

 

"Use me?!"  

 

"Yes, don't you realize? The Elementists, one of the most powerful races in the universe! You're going to get me so much money! We're talking trillions, and that's a minimum!" A evil grin grew on her painted red lips, and my eyes widened. 

 

I took a step back and instantly, I was trapped in a bright light. My body was shaking and I stared fearfully at the woman. "Chip! Activate the psychograft!" She ordered the man, who bounded over to the controls. 

 

"Let me go!" I screamed, trying to get out of the binding light. Suddenly, the binding lights were gone, replaced by a cage made of light. I went to grab the bars and pull them, ignoring the fact that my gloves were burning. 

 

"Let me go, please," I cried again, feeling as confined as I was when I was with the Director. 

 

"Sorry short stuff, the lady's moving on. It's goodbye to basement life and hello trillion-aire!" A cloud of light jumped out of her body and into me, and the world shut out like a light switch. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

3rd's POV  

Chip raced over to the girl, who laid unconscious on the ground, "Mistress?"  

 

"Moisturize me," she murmured, beginning to stir. Then, her eyes snapped open, "How bizarre..." She exclaimed breathlessly. "Arms... Fingers... Hair! Lots of hair! Let me see! Let me see!" She sprung to her feet, now filled with newfound energy and excitement, and ogled herself in the long mirror. "Oh my god... I'm a kid!" 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

I groaned in pain, my eyes fluttering open. "Where am I?" I muttered, looking around, bleary-eyed.  

 

"You're mind is so interesting, for a child your age," a familiar woman's voice said, making me shoot my head up. I suddenly became aware of the chains that held my arms, legs, and body tied to a chair. My heart jumped and I instantly began to thrash around in the chains. 

 

"Oh, stop it. It's no use," she said again. I heard footsteps walk towards me and lean close to my ear. "You're in your subconscious. All you can do is watch," she giggled in my ear, and walked around the chair.  

 

In front of me stood a blonde-haired woman in a black dress and bright red lipstick 

 

"Get out of me Cassandra," I growled at the woman. 

 

"No can do," she sighed. "You're my ticket out of this place, but before I go, I've got to meet your little friends. Ward 26, right?" 

 

"Stay away from them!" I screamed at her, who merely laughed.  

 

"For the supposedly intimidating elementist, you're actually really cute," she smirked and pinched my cheeks."Oh, I could just eat you!" 

 

"I am not cute!" I cried, even though I have no clue what 'cute' means. 

 

"You're right," she sighed deeply, letting go. "You're adorable!" 

 

A growl escaped my throat, making her take a step back mockingly, "What are you, a dog?" 

 

"What are you doing to my body?!" I demanded, and she rolled her eyes. 

 

"I already told you, taking a little looksy on your friends," she smirked. "Honestly, I was going to take that blonde chav's body had yours not been practically gold." She paused, frowning, "You're memories... Most are quite sad really. You're missing a few. Like it's locked away," she bit her lip. "Maybe if I just..." 

 

Suddenly, I gasped, my body racking with pain. Hundreds of things ran through my head at once. Weeping Angels. Rome. Augusta. The Doctor. Nightmares. Gelth. Gwyne-- 

 

It stopped, leaving me gasping. "So many locked away memories..." Cassandra murmured. "You lost everything..." 

 

"Get... Out... Of my head," I gasped, and she looked back at me, her pitying look died easily. 

 

"No," she glared, "In fact. I seem to like this body very much... So powerful. So--Oh. We're ringing." 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

3rd's POV 

"Auggie, where are you?" The Doctor's voice said through the silver phone that Cassandra held, awkwardly. 

 

"How does she talk?" She whispered to Chip. 

 

"Old Earth American," he whispered back and she nodded. 

 

"Uhm... What's up?" She answered. 

 

"Where've you been?" He interrogated, "How long does it take to get to Ward 26?" 

 

"I'll be on my way... Bro..." she nodded to herself. 

 

"Hurry up, I have a old friend here I want you to meet," his voice held a certain excitement that sparked her interest. 

 

"Oh really? Who?" 

 

"His name's the Face of Boe, you'll love him!" 

 

"Oh, I can't wait to meet that good old... Boat...face..." She trailed off, but he didn't mind.  

 

"I'd better go. See you in a minute," with that, he hung up, leaving the two awkwardly standing there. 

 

After a few seconds, she began to fix herself again in the mirror, "This Doctor man is dangerous," Chip piped up. 

 

She finished the long braid she made and put it over her shoulder, "Dangerous and clever," she corrected, unraveling the scarf around her neck and dropping it on the ground. "I might need a mind like his. The Sisterhood is up to something. Remember that Old Earth saying...? Never trust a Nun. Never trust a Nurse. And never trust a cat. Perfume?" Chip handed her a pink bottle, which she stuck on the inside of her jacket, and strode out the room. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

"Listen here, you flat bitch," I growled, feeling very angry right now. "If you don't let me go--" 

 

"You'll what?" She laughed, "You'll hurt me? Last I checked, I trapped you and I was controlling your body. Just face it. You're a angry little girl throwing a tantrum. Get over it." 

 

"I am so going to--" she clicked her fingers and instantly, my mouth was covered by sticky gray... Something...  

 

"You were going to what? Sorry, I couldn't hear you over the tape blocking your mouth," she giggled.  

 

I glared at her, yanking in my chair more, until I began to feel dizzy and my vision blurred. "Hey, don't strain yourself. You'll kill both of us. Your mind's still young. You'll probably be dead in a few hours if I stay in here much longer. Which means, I need to hurry up and get rid of these Cat Nuns... Oh, here we are," she smiled, and we turned to front, which held a huge screen showing Rose and the Doctor as I-- we stepped out of the elevator. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

3rd's POV 

"There you are," Rose exclaimed, hugging Cassandra, who stood there stiffly. "Sorry we lost track of you. Must've been scared to death..." 

 

"Oh, nah, it's... All good," she nodded, peeling Rose away from their body. "I was perfectly... Fine." She patted Rose's arm and walked away from her. "So, what's up?" 

 

The Doctor smiled with excitement, "Come and look at this patient!" He exclaimed, taking her arm and dragging her over to a bed where the patient's skin is completely red. "Marconi's Disease. Should take years to recover. Two days. I've never seen anything like it -- they've invented a cell washing cascade -- it's amazing. Their medical science is way advanced. And this one!" 

 

He brought her to another one, with a man whose completely white, "Pallidome Pancrosis. Kills you in ten minutes, and he's fine!" He waved cheerily at the patient, who waved back. "I need to find a terminal. I've got to see how they do this." 

 

They walk off, but Cassandra is skipping like a schoolgirl, "Because if they've got the best medicine in the world..." He said, "Then why's it such a secret?" 

 

"Well, they can't Adam and Eve it," she laughed, and Rose looked at her oddly.  

 

"Do you even know who Adam and Eve were?" She asked skeptically. 

 

"'Course I know who Adam and Eve were, Rose," she rolled her eyes, spitting her name like it was venom, and added, "I'm not dumb." 

 

She crossed her arms over her chest, "Never said you were." 

 

"Anyways," the Doctor finally broke the three up before they started a fight. "We need to get to the terminal." 

 

"Right," she nodded, and walked away, not before planting a kiss on the Doctor's cheek. "Terminal's this way..." She smirked and walked down the hallway. 

 

Rose and the Doctor stayed a few paces behind the skipping girl. "That's not Auggie," they both said simultaneously, looking at each other. 

 

"Since when does Auggie skip?" Rose nearly laughed at the odd situation. "Since when does she know who 'Adam and Eve' were?" 

 

"First, we need to figure out what's wrong with this hospital," the Doctor said, catching up with the now-hyperactive girl.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

"Aaah!" I cried, whipping my head back. My head was killing me, I felt like my head was going to explode!  

 

"Hmm... Side effects are beginning to set in," Cassandra sighed. "Your body was already dying anyway..." 

 

I looked up, my eyes wide, "D-dying?!" I croaked. 

 

"Yes, dying. Your body is weak, or at least has been weakened. If I don't find a new host soon, you'll die and be no use to me," she muttered the last part to herself. 

 

"No," I growled. "You're not going anywhere! I won't-- I won't let you hurt anyone else!" 

 

"Sweetheart, you fail to realize that I am in control of your body," she laughed.  

 

"You're in my mind," I hissed at her. "You're trapped with me!" 

 

I glared heatedly at her and her eyes widened. She screamed, and a second later, she disappeared, leaving no traces. 

 

I stare at the ground, panting heavily. Did-did I do it? "You think it'll be that easy to get rid of me?" A agitated growled behind me. A wave of pain struck my mind, making my vision flash black for a second. "I'm in control of you," she growled, walking into my peripheral vision. "I control you now! You're nothing but a puppet!" 

 

She flicked her wrist, and I screamed again, my head hanging limply. She walked over, her heels clicking the floor and grabbed my face, roughly, her nails digging into my skin. "You know, you probably don't even need to be alive for me to use you, really. All I need are a few body parts that could be replicated. So don't get cocky."  

 

She let go, and my head fell. "Please... Let me go..." I murmured, only to have her scoff. 

 

"Sorry sweetheart. You're my ticket to all the money in the world," she patted my cheek. "Not gonna let you go that easy." 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

3rd's POV 

"Nope... Nothing odd... Surgery... Post-op... Nano-dentistry..." The Doctor said, as he looked on the screen that held the layout of the hospital. "No sign of a shop... They should have a shop." 

 

Cassandra walked around him, peering at the screen over his shoulder, "No, it's missing something else," she frowned, thoughtfully. "When I was downstairs, those Nurse/Cat/Nuns were talking about Intensive Care. Where is it...?" 

 

"You're right," the Doctor agreed, sharing a silent glance with Rose, "Well done." 

 

"Why would they hide a whole department?" She continued, oblivious to their looks. The Doctor took his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket, "It's gotta be there somewhere," she continued. "Search the sub-frame." 

 

"What if the sub-frame's locked?" He asked, obviously testing her knowledge.  

 

"Try the installation protocol..." She suggested, and he nodded, scanning the screen.  

 

"Yeah, course," he muttered, "Sorry. Hold on." He clicked his sonic off and a entire wall moved over, revealing a secret hall. Cassandra smirked and walked straight into the hall. 

 

"Intensive Care," Rose muttered, walking next to him. "Certainly looks intensive." 

 

He nodded, "Got that right..." And with that, they both walked through the dark hallway. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Going down the metal steps, they were surrounded by rows and rows of huge cavernous cages with green, glass doors. The Doctor opened one of the doors with his sonic screwdriver. Slowly, it revealed a man, covered in boils, rashes, and every other medical skin disease in the galaxy, surrounded by smoke. Rose gasped, looking at him, and a horrified expression fell on the Doctor's face. 

 

Cassandra's face, on the other hand, scrunched up in disgust, "That's disgusting." 

 

"What's happened to him?" Rose finally asked, but the Doctor didn't answer completely. 

 

"I'm sorry," he apologized, "I'm so sorry." He gently closed the door, going to another, where a woman was held, looking in just about the same condition. 

 

"What disease is that?" Cassandra asked, holding her nose. 

 

"All of them," the Doctor said quietly in disgust. "Every single disease in the galaxy, they've been infected with everything." 

 

"What about us?" Rose asked, "Are we safe?" 

 

"The air's sterile. Just don't touch them," the Doctor warned, going to the railing and looking down at the thousands of other people being held. 

 

"How many patients are there?" Cassandra asked, looking over too. 

 

"They're not patients," the Doctor said. 

 

"But they're sick," Cassandra argued. 

 

"They were born sick," the Doctor said, anger shone in his voice. "They're meant to be sick. They exist to be sick. Lab rats. No wonder the Sisters have got a cure for everything. They've built the ultimate research laboratory. A Human farm." 

 

"Then... Why don't they..." Rose trailed off, slightly uncomfortable with the word. 

 

"Die?" He finished, "They're plague carriers. The last to go." 

 

"It's for the greater cause," a new voice said, and they all turned to see one of the cat nuns, Novice Hame, standing at the end of the walkway. 

 

"Novice Hame," the Doctor growled. "When you took your vows, did you agree to this?" 

 

"The Sisterhood has sworn to help," she answered. 

 

"What, by killing?" The Doctor shouted. 

 

"But they're not real people," she argued gently. "They're specially grown. They have no proper existence." 

 

The Doctor walked over to her, dangerously. "What's the turnover?" He demanded to know, "Hm? Thousand a day? Thousand the next? Thousand the next? How many thousand? For how many years? How many?!" 

 

"Mankind needed us," she replied, narrowing her cat-eyes. "They came to this planet with so many illnesses. We couldn't cope. We did try. We tried everything. We tried using clone-meat and bio-cattle... but the results were too slow. So the sisterhood grew its own flesh. That's all they are. Flesh." 

 

"These people are alive," he spat. 

 

"But think of those Humans out there..." She sighed peacefully, "Healthy... And happy, because of us." 

 

"If they live because of this, then life is worthless," he glared. 

 

"But who are you to decide that?" She challenged. 

 

He took a step forward, glaring down at her. "I'm the Doctor," he answered, authority shining in his voice. "And if you don't like it... if you want to take it to a higher authority, then there isn't one. It stops with me." 

 

Cassandra peered around the Doctor's side, "Just to confirm... None of the Humans in the city actually know about this?" She asked the cat nun. 

 

"We thought it best not--" she began to say, but the Doctor held up his hand. 

 

"Hold on. I can understand the bodies. I can understand your vows. But one thing I can't understand -- what have you done to Augusta?" 

 

The cat frowned, not expecting this, "I don't know what you mean." 

 

"And I'm being very, very calm," he said, his voice a deadly quiet. "You wanna beware of that -- very, very calm. And the only reason I'm being so very, very calm is that the brain is a delicate thing. Whatever you've done to Augusta's head, I want it reversed." 

 

"We haven't done anything," she denied. 

 

"I'm perfectly fine," Cassandra added. 

 

"These people are dying," Rose spoke up, glaring at the cat. "Augusta wouldn't be acting like this. Augusta would care." 

 

"Oh, all right, clever clogs," She sighed, and the two of them turned to her. She pulled out his tie flirtatiously. "Smarty pants. Lady-killers." 

 

"What happened to you?" The Doctor asked, staring down at her. 

 

"I knew something was going on in this hospital," she admitted. "But I needed this body and your mind to find it out." 

 

"Who are you?" Rose demanded. 

 

She smirked, "Don't you remember?" A giggle escaped her lips, "I'm the Last Human!" 

 

Both their eyes widened, realizing who was in control of Augusta's body, "Cassandra?" The Doctor and Rose said. 

 

She grinned, slipping a hand in her jacket, "Wake up and smell the perfume!" She yanked out her perfume bottle and sprayed the Doctor in the face. 

 

"Doctor!" Rose shouted, but she quickly sprayed her too, and they were both on the ground, unconscious. 

 

"You've hurt them!" Novice Hame declared, kneeling to his side. "I don't understand-- I'll have to fetch Matron!" 

 

"You do that, 'cause I want to see her," Cassandra waved a hand carelessly. "Now, run along! Sound the alarm!" Novice Hame ran off, scared, and Cassandra smiled satisfyingly, and yanked a cord out, making a loud alarm sound. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

"Don't hurt them..." I rasped. "Please... Just... Leave them alone..." 

 

"Hush up, will you?" Cassandra rolled her eyes. "Dragging bodies are hard work, you know." 

 

"Please, just let them go," I begged, squeezing my eyes shut in pain. "Please..." 

 

"No way," she laughed. "If I let them go now, all my hard work'll be for nothing!"  

 

"Just leave them alone!" I shouted, which turned into a rippling cough.  

 

"Face it: You're dying," she shrugged. "I'll just have to find someone else, but that doesn't mean I'm not taking you with me. I'm still going to use you." She smirked, "You're my ticket to fame." 

 

"Is that all you want?" I asked, "Money? Fame?!" 

 

"In a world like this, that's all you need," she flipped her hair over her shoulder.  

 

"Just leave me alone!" I screeched, but another wave of pain struck my head and I gasped, moaning. 

 

"I suggest you watch that tone of yours," Cassandra said casually. "I can still kill you in a second." 

 

"... Leave them..." I muttered. "Please... I'm begging you." 

 

"No," she defied. "Suck it up, will you. You're starting to get on my nerves... Oh, look! They're waking up!" 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

3rd's POV 

The Doctor stirred, his eyes slowly opening, and found himself in the metal cage with a green glass door, Rose lying by his feet. Cassandra staring at them through the glass door, "Let me out!" He shouted, "Let me out!" 

 

"Aren't you lucky there was a spare?" She laughed, "Just enough room to shove both of you in." 

 

"You've stolen Augusta's body," he growled, as Rose just began to wake up. 

 

"Over the years, I've thought of a thousand ways to kill you, Doctor," she admitted. "And now, that's exactly what I've got. One thousand diseases. They pump the patients with a top-up every ten minutes. You've got about... Three minutes left. Enjoy." 

 

"Just let Augusta go, Cassandra," he helped Rose up, who was glaring daggers at Cassandra. "She's just a kid." 

 

"I will! As soon as I've found someone older with more... Curves. Maybe Blondie will do," his eyes narrowed at the thought of her using Rose. "Then I'll sell her on a black market or something. Now hushaby! It's showtime!" 

 

Just as she finished, Sister Jatt and Marton Casp walked down the walkway. "Anything we can do to help?" Sister Jatt asked. 

 

"Straight to the point, Whiskers..." Cassandra crossed her arms over her chest, "I want money." 

 

"The Sisterhood is a charity," Matron Casp corrected. "We don't give money. We only... accept." 

 

"The Humans across the water pay you a fortune. And that's exactly what I need. A one-off payment," she shrugged. "That's all I want... oh, and perhaps a yacht. In return for which, I shall tell the City nothing of your institutional murder. Is that a deal?" 

 

"I'm afraid not," Marton Casp denied. 

 

"I'd really advise you to think about this," she insisted. 

 

"There's no need. I have to decline." 

 

"I'll tell them! And you've no way of stopping me! You're not exactly Nuns with Guns -- you're not even armed." 

 

"Who needs arms when we have claws?" Long claws shoot out of her paws and they hissed menacingly. 

 

"Well, nice try," she sighed, and spun around to where Chip was standing. "Chip? Plan B!" 

 

Chip pulled a lever, causing all the doors on the walkway to shoot open, including the infected one. The Doctor and Rose stepped out of their cells, "What've you done??" He yelled.  

 

"Gave the system a shot of adrenaline, just to wake 'em up. See ya!" She ran off with Chip, leaving the Doctor, Rose, Matron Casp, and Sister Jatt to fend off the infected people. 

 

"Don't touch them!" He shouted to the nurses and Rose, "Whatever you do, don't touch!" He and Rose dashed after Cassandra and Chip, while Sister Jatt and Matron Casp watched the infected people. 

 

"I think we should withdraw," Sister Jatt gulped nervously. 

 

"We understood what you did to us," the infected man stepped forward. "As part of the machine, we know the machine." 

 

"Fascinating," Marton Casp awed while she backed away. "It's actually constructing an argument." 

 

"And we... Will end it," he plunged himself into the electronic circuit board, electrocuting himself to death, but releasing the doors on every other cell in the entire Intensive Care unit. The infected people began to stumble out of their cells, all looking at the cat nuns.  

 

"They're free," Sister Jatt gasped in shock. "By the Goddess Centauri -- the flesh is free!" Sister Jatt was backed up against the wall, while the flesh are murmuring 'stop the pain.' One of them touch her and her body erupts in boils and red rashes, and the cat nun screamed in agony. 

 

"Oh, my God..." Cassandra gasped, as she and Chip watched the flesh stumble out of their cages. 

 

"What the hell have you done?" The Doctor glared. 

 

"It wasn't me!" She exclaimed, passing off the blame. 

 

"One touch and you get every disease in the world," he hissed. "And I want that body safe, Cassandra! We've gotta go down!" 

 

She glanced at the advancing zombie-like people, fear trembling in her voice, "But there's thousands of them!" She whined. 

 

"RUN!" He ordered, "Down! Down! Go down!" The four of them raced down the metal plated steps.  

 

The P.A. System announced loudly: "This building is under quarantine. Repeat -- this building is under quarantine. No one may leave the premises. Repeat... No one may leave the premises." 

 

"Keep going!" The Doctor shouted as they ran down the steps. "Go down!" 

 

Finally, finishing the last bit of steps, they reached the basement. They burst through the cellar doors, Cassandra tried to frantically turn on the elevator. "No, the lifts have closed down," he explained, stopping. "That's the quarantine, nothing's moving." 

 

"This way!" She said, directing then the other way, but Chip is pitifully left behind. 

 

"Someone will touch him!" He said, beginning to go back, but Cassandra grabbed his arm, stopping him. 

 

"Leave him!" She rolled her eyes, "He's just a clone thing, he's only got a half life-- come on!" 

 

"Mistress!" Chip called out pitifully, but Cassandra had already left, Rose -- who was more worried about Augusta -- was on her tail.  

 

The Doctor looked at the half-life slave, "I'm sorry, I can't let her escape!" He apologized, running after his two companions. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

They finally made it back into the room where Augusta was originally captured, Cassandra slammed the doors behind them. She tried another, only have more zombie clambering behind it. Emitting a small noise in surprise, she shut the door. "We're trapped!" She exclaimed, very upset and scared. "What're we going to do?" 

 

He and Rose were glaring at the woman, who was inside of a girl. He noticed a familiar white scarf on the ground, and picked it up, shoving it into his bigger-on-the-inside pockets. "Well, for starters, you're going to leave that body," he stated heatedly. He pointed his sonic at the psychograft that he assumed was used to put the woman in the fifteen-year-old's body.  

 

"That psychograft is banned on every civilized planet!" He exclaimed, "Augusta is a child! She can't handle you both in her mind for this long, you'll compress her to death!" 

 

"But I've got nowhere to go," she whined childishly. "My original skin's dead." 

 

"That's not our problem," Rose glared, her arms crosses over her chest, expressing evident anger. 

 

"Give her back to me," he growled, pointing his sonic screwdriver at the woman threateningly. 

 

"You asked for it," she simply shrugged. A cloud of light left Augusta's body and quickly bounced into the Doctor's.  

 

Simultaneously, Augusta fell to the floor, her eyes rolled back and her head beaded with sweat. "Auggie!?" Rose shouted, going to the young girl's side. For a few moments, she could've sworn she wasn't breathing, until she finally inhaled a small, weary, in-take of oxygen, and coughed roughly.  

 

Meanwhile, Cassandra was examining her new body. "Oh, my," she gasped, except it sounded like the Doctor. Rose turned her head to see the woman slowly rubbing the slim man's body. "This is... different." 

 

"Cassandra?" Rose asked, hesitantly, as if fearing her answer. 

 

"Goodness me, I'm a man. Yum. So many parts!" She giggled, "And hardly used..." Then, she began to wiggle around senselessly. "Ah... Ah! Two hearts! Oh, baby, I'm beating out a samba!" 

 

"Get out of him," she growled. 

 

"Ooh, he's slim. And a little bit foxy," she wiggled her eyebrows, but Rose looked away. "Oh, don't give me that! I've seen the way you look at him, you want a piece of him, don't you?" Rose looked away, sheepishly, but Cassandra came closer, her voice low and teasing, "You've been looking... You like it." 

 

Suddenly, the zombies bursts through the room, making them both jump. Acting quickly, Rose swung the unconscious girl on her back -- she was a lot lighter than she looked, actually -- wrapping her hands on her neck.  

 

Unfortunately, Cassandra only freaked out, "What do we do? What would he do?? The Doctor-- what the hell would he do?!" She asked frantic to leave the zombie-person-infected room. 

 

Rose looked around, finally noticing a ladder, "Ladder... We've gotta get up."  

 

She and Augusta headed for the ladder, but Cassandra pushed her out of the way, "Out of the way, Blondie!" She shouted, going up. 

 

As soon as she was far enough, Rose began to go up herself, just in time for her to be ahead of the flesh. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

My eyes slowly opened, when I heard two people arguing loudly. I glanced down to see people with disease littered on their person behind us. I looked up to see a metal door blocking our way.  

 

"I order you to leave her!" I heard the Doctor shout angrily, before he went limp again.  

 

My eyes trailed to the door, and I shakily reached a hand to move the metal. My nose bleed a lot, I coughed, and my sight began to blur together.  

 

"... I don't care. Just do something!" Rose's voice commanded.  

 

The Doctor's face twisted into disgust, "Oh, I am so gonna regret this..." He muttered, but a white light jumped out of his body, going into the woman behind us's.  

 

"Oh, sweet Lord... I look disgusting," she sighed as the Doctor sonicked the door, and pulling Rose in, with me hand, and helped me sit down. "No you don't..." She growled and a bright light slipped through the closing doors, and back into me. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

3rd's POV 

"Cassandra, no!" Rose cried, trying to shake her out of the young girl, who was dazing into space, but crimson blood fell from her lips. "Cassandra, you can't stay in her, you'll kill her!"  

 

She looked at the blond woman, and jumped out of the girl's body, and into Rose. Augusta fell like a rag doll, but the Doctor caught her before she could hit the ground.  

 

"Inside her head..." Cassandra said quietly, using Rose's voice. "They're so alone... They keep reaching out, just to hold us... All their lives and they've never been touched." She glanced at Augusta, "They are like her..." 

 

The Doctor looked at the woman, solemnly, and held out his hand, helping her up. He picked Augusta up as well, and  carefully placed her on his back, and together they began to walk back to Ward 26. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

I blinkingly woke up to the back of the Doctor's head. We were in a silvery hallway, walking slowly. I moved slightly, trying to stand on the floor, but his grip tightened and he looked at me. "Look who's awake," he smiled softly. "How're you feeling?" 

 

I numbly stared at him, "My head hurts..." I murmured, wincing at my throbbing, pounding head and closing my eyes. "Where-where are we...?" 

 

"Still in the hospital. We're near Ward 26, just hang on." 

 

I nodded slightly, and rested my head on his shoulder. "Why are you holding me like this?" I asked quietly, very curious about the positioning he held me on his back.  

 

He chuckled, "It's called 'piggy-back'. It was the only way I could hold you and not drop you. Is it uncomfortable?"  

 

"No... I guess not... I was just confused..." I sank my face into the crook of his neck, sniffing slightly. He smelled like chemicals, and that was probably because we were in a hospital. He also smelled... Sweet? Like... That flower... What was it called...? Uhm... Va... Va-hill-na? Something like that... 

 

"Why didn't you tell me," he asked, after a short pause. "That you could control the elements?" 

 

I didn't answer at first, but then I sighed deeply. "I didn't want you to think I was a monster," I admitted meekly.  

 

"I would never think that of you," he stated.  

 

"I didn't know that," I scowled, my eyes darting to the silver walls. "I thought that if I told you, you wouldn't want me, or..." I trailed off.  

 

"Or?"  

 

"Or... You'd try to give me back to the people who hurt me... Or you might... Try to hurt me..." I bit my lip harshly, trying to stop tears from falling.  

 

"Auggie I would never do that," he sighed.  

 

"I don't know that... I didn't know that," I frowned, frustrated. "I'm not Auggie, Doctor. Auggie is-- was a girl who selfishly held secrets from you. I don't want to be Auggie. I'm Subject August.23, a thing who no longer has a purpose and is just waiting to be eliminated." 

 

"You're not Subject August.23. You're Auggie," he corrected, coldness sliding into his voice. "Why don't you think that? You're Augusta, a fifteen year old girl who Rose and I found, bloody and bruised beside the TARDIS. We took you in, Auggie. We helped you." 

 

"I don't want your help..." I murmured, "I don't need it. I shouldn't have... I-I shouldn't have went against the Director's orders, I--" 

 

"So you're saying you'd rather me dead?" He harshly asked. 

 

"I'm not..." I sighed, rubbing my head a little. "Doctor, I don't want anyone else to die because of me. I don't want to hear them, I don't want to see them. If I die before the Director can get to me and use me to--" 

 

"You're not dying!" He rose his voice, making me freeze, my hair stand on ends. "Nobody is going to die because of you anymore. You're not-- you're not some kind of token for death! You're Auggie, and that means I'm going to help you." 

 

I didn't respond for a minute. "... I'm Subject Augusta.23," I finally said, making his jaw clench angrily in response. 

 

"You're not 'Subject August.23', you're Auggie! Why do you still say that? Why do you still believe that?!" 

 

"Because!" I glared lightly at him, "'Auggie' was a person who had someone who loved her. Someone who she waited to help her escape from the Director for a year! I don't believe that anymore. I don't believe anyone is-- can help me anymore. I'm useless; broken. Nobody can save me, not even a doctor and not even you..."  

 

He stopped in his tracks, his face turned to stare at me, his wide hazel eyes filled with some kind of pain and regret. Cassandra had stopped too, listening in on our conversation silently. I adverted my gaze to the ground, "Where were you...?" I asked quietly, my eyes welling with tears. "Where were you went I was crying and screaming and dying in that cell? Did you give up on me? Did you not want to look for me anymore? What did I do wrong? Did-did you not want me anymore because I didn't want to admit I was a monster to you...?"  

 

"Auggie, don't--" he cut himself off with a heavy sigh. "Don't do this to yourself. You didn't do anything, you never did--" 

 

"I didn't know what to think after that..." I murmured, making him go silent. "I don't know why you even wanted me. I'm a monster, I know I am. Monsters don't deserve to live and mess up other people's lives. Monsters-Monsters deserve to get chains up and rot in a cell." 

 

"You're not a monster," he insisted, continuing to walk. 

 

"What else do you call a person who laughs when someone dies?" I shot at him. "What else do you call a person who hurt people for fun? Who killed people in cold blood? Face it Doctor, I'm a Monster-- a mistake. A thing, if you will. You can't save a monster." 

 

The hallway is silent as my harsh words sink in to them both. The Doctor didn't say anything else for the rest of the way, so an awkward silence had fallen between the three -- or four, if you count Rose -- of us. 

 

Finally, we made it to Ward 26 where there was a large woman brandishing a chair menacingly. The Doctor set me down and went up to the woman, who was roaring like a wild animal, "We're safe! We're safe!" He reasoned, "We're safe. We're clean! We're clean! Look, look--" 

 

"Show me your skin," she demanded in a growling, low tone.  

 

We all raised our hands to show her, "Look! Clean," the Doctor said. "Look -- if we'd been touched, we'd be dead." 

 

She nodded, and set the chair down, "So, how's it going up here?" The Doctor asked, as we walked through the door. Cassandra helped me because I felt like I was going to fall over at any second. I guess I haven't fully healed yet, "What's the status?" 

 

"There's nothing but silence from the other wards," she explained. "I think we're the only ones left. And I've been trying to override the quarantine." She picked up a small device and began to fiddle with it, "If I can trip a signal over to New New York, they can send a private executive squad." 

 

"You can't do that. If they forced entry, they'd break quarantine," the Doctor said, not liking the idea of calling authorities. 

 

"I am not dying in here," she growled angrily. 

 

"Well, we can't let a million people die out there," I spoke up, and she turned to me, glaring. 

 

"What do you know about that? You're just a kid!" 

 

I narrowed my eyes at her, sitting on one of the hospital beds, "Doesn't matter if I'm a kid. This is life or death we're talking about, and you're about to place your life over a million others? Don't be stupid." 

 

Her face grew red with anger, "Why you--" 

 

"Augusta is right," the Doctor said, stopping the woman form trying to throttle me. "We can't let a single particle of disease get out -- there is ten million people in that City, they'd all be at risk! Now, turn that off!" 

 

"Not if it gets me out," she said stubbornly, shooting a glare at me as well. 

 

"All right, fine," the Doctor said. "So I have to stop you lot as well. Suits me. Rose. Novice Hame. Everyone! Excuse me your grace-- get me intravenous solutions for every single disease. Move it!" At that, everyone began to scramble around, trying to pick up whatever solution to a disease that they could find. 

 

I moved to get up off the bed and help, but my knees buckled and nearly fell to the ground, "Dammit," I muttered under my breath. I still haven't healed? She must've done more damage than I thought... 

 

"Auggie," the Doctor called, making me look up at him. "I want you to stay here." 

 

"What? No, I'm coming with you," I said, looking at him like he was crazy.  

 

"You're hurt still," he reasoned. "If you come you'll only get hurt more. I don't want to risk it." 

 

"I'm not gonna let you go down there alone!" 

 

"I'm not going to be alone, Cassandra will be there." 

 

"Oh, yes, because she's so reliable," I rolled my eyes, sarcasm lacing my voice. "It's not like she took over my body and started this mess anyway!"  

 

He frowned disapprovingly at me, "It doesn't matter; you aren't coming and that's final." 

 

"I don't care if I get hurt," I crossed my arms over my chest. 

 

"You're not indestructible, you know," he chided. "You can get hurt and even die." 

 

"If something happens, I'll think of something." 

 

"Think of what?" 

 

"I'll figure that out when I get there." 

 

"You're still hurt, Auggie--" 

 

"Don't call me that," I interrupted.  

 

"What? You're name!? What else do you expect me to call you?" 

 

"Hmm, I don't know," I glared at him. "Maybe 'Subject August.23', my ACTUAL name! You know, the one I was given when I was created? The one that I've been trying to correct you on over and over again!?" 

 

"I'm not calling you by some experiment-given title," he growled in a low tone. 

 

"Well then, call me '23' or 'Subject' or 'devil spawn', I don't give a damn! But, don't call me 'Auggie'." 

 

His eyes narrowed at me, "I'm not going to call you that." 

 

"Then I won't answer." 

 

He scoffed, "You're being childish." 

 

"I don't care." I looked at him, his hazel eyes were darkened, his eyebrows ruffled showing frustration. His hands were clenched in his trench coat pockets, signaling his withheld anger, and his lips pressed into a thin line.  

 

He looked very upset, yet my hard stare wasn't going to back down anytime soon. The Augusta he knew was dead and gone. She was never coming back. He was holding onto a memory that has been crumpled into dust. There was only me, Subject August.23, now, and it irritated me how he kept trying to turn me into someone that was dead. I didn't want to be his 'Augusta'. I wanted to be me. Besides, it was him who wanted me to tell him who I really was, wasn't it? 

 

"Doctor," someone called, making our staring match break.  "We're ready." 

 

"Auggie, you're staying here and that's final," the Doctor commanded. 

 

"Well, that's great for Auggie, but I'm not Auggie, so let's go," I smirked at the frustrated expression on his face and began to go to the others. 

 

Shoving my nausea and vertigo aside, I watched while they tied the bags of sharp, chemical-scented bags of solutions on him with some rope. "How's that? Will that do?" He asked once all the limply hanging bags were secure. 

 

"I don't know! Will it do for what?" Cassandra asked, not yet understanding what he was planning on doing. The Doctor took out his sonic and sonicked the elevator doors. "The lifts aren't working." 

 

He nodded to himself as he peered down the empty, metal elevator shaft, "Not moving. Different thing." He took a few steps back, readying a running jump, "Here we go." He stuck his sonic in his teeth, and began to run. 

 

"But you're not going to--," she wasn't able to finish began he had already jumped into the elevator shaft, hanging onto the metal cord in the centre. "What do you think you're doing?!" She exclaimed. 

 

"I'm going down!" He explained, fixing up the wench with his sonic. 

 

"Good idea," I nodded. "But what do you do when one of you fall...?" 

 

"I'll figure that out when I get there," he said, reciting my own words to me, making me scoff. 

 

Cassandra, however, had a very exasperated look on her face, "Come on!" The Doctor called excitedly. 

 

"Not in a million years," she denied firmly. 

 

"I need another pair of hands, and Auggie can't come," he said, ignoring the semi-loud, 'I'm not Auggie', from me. "What do you think? If you're so desperate to stay alive... why don't you live a little?" 

 

More zombies emerged from the door, and I quickly stepped into the shaft, with Cassandra, "Seal the door!" The woman's voice ordered, and the elevator doors closed tightly behind me. 

 

"Guess I have no other choice then," I grinned, making the Doctor scowl.  

 

"You're completely mad," Cassandra said with a regretful moan. "I can see why she likes you." She jumped on the Doctor's back, leaving me with the incoming infected people.  

 

"Going down!" The Doctor shouted and down they went, Cassandra's loud screaming piercing my ears. 

 

I glanced at the zombie-people, and sighed, "Well, here I go..." I muttered, touching the metal walls, wrapping the metal around my hands securely and jumped onto the bare wiring.  

 

Without anything to latch me on, I slid down, a loud yelp released from my mouth, until I finally hit the bottom of the elevator on my butt, roughly. I moaned, and fell to my side. "That... Wasn't a good idea..." I muttered, swaying badly as I stood up. 

 

"Auggie, I told you to stay!" The Doctor scowled at me. 

 

I tsked him lightly, crossing my arms, "You told Auggie to stay, not Subject August.23." 

 

He huffed, but didn't argue any further. "You go do your doctor-y thing. I'll protect Rose's body, just in case," I assured him. His uneasy stare lingered for a few seconds before he moved to jump into the elevator below.  

 

I turned to Cassandra, opening my mouth to talk, but it was interrupted by a bloody cough, "No..." I muttered. "Not now..." 

 

"What's wrong with you?" She asked, hearing me talk to myself. 

 

"Don't worry about me," I said. "Get ready for the Doctor's signal." 

 

She nodded, not pressing any further, just as the Doctor shouted, "Pull that lever!" Pulling down with all lever with all her might, I heard the Doctor shout for the zombie-like people to come towards him.  

 

I stayed near Cassandra, and I heard her moan, trying to keep it down. Quickly, I went to her side, helping her pull it down, "Just a little more!" The Doctor called. 

 

"Commence stage one -- disinfection," the familiar electronic voice from the elevator said and the sharp scent of chemicals wafted through the air. 

 

"Hurry up, come on!" The Doctor shouted again. "Come on, come on. All they wanna do is pass it on. Pass it on!"  

 

"Pass on what?" Cassandra asked, very confused. "Pass on what?!" 

 

"Pass it on!" He said, not answering her question. Cassandra's hands leave the lever and -- with the doctor's help -- she jumped into the elevator, with me following closely behind.  

 

"What did they pass on?" Cassandra asked again, "Did you kill them? All of them?" 

 

"No," he answered, shaking his head disapprovingly. Also spraying his chemical-water solution everywhere, "That's your way of doing things." He walked out into the people who used to be infected midst where everyone is going around, hugging and touching each other, a proud smile placed on his thin lips. "I'm the Doctor and I cured them." 

 

A woman walks up and hugs him, and he motions them towards someone, and she goes. I spot a young girl, the same one as earlier, walk over to her. She is sitting by herself again, tears are cascading down her face.  

 

When she sees me, she jumped up and runs over, burying her face in my shirt. "Wha--?" 

 

"Mama's really sick," she cried. "The-the nurse-ladies says she can't get better! M-My Mama is gonna die!" 

 

"I..." I began to say, but the words are lost in my throat. What do I say? I don't know what to say about it... "I apologize...?" 

 

She sniffed and looked at me, her eyes wide with sadness and angst. "What do I do? I don't wanna be all alone..."  

 

I gaped at her for a few seconds and them pressed my lips into a thin line, "Where is she?" 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

With the Doctor's approval and supervision, we were able to go to Ward 12, where the little girl's mother was. She led me to the room where her mother laid, with her hands folded over her chest. She looked exactly like the young girl, with her pale-green scaly skin, but she had yellowish-green eyes, opposed to just yellow eyes. A weak smile appeared on her face, when the young girl entered the room.  

 

"Mama!" The girl cried, going to the woman, and sitting beside the bed. "Are you okay? How are you feeling? The Nurse said you weren't doing good, are you going to die?" 

 

"I... I'll be fine..." She replied weakly, "Ma-Mama will be up and running before you--" she was cut off by a cough. "Before... You know it." 

 

The girl sniffed, taking her mother's hand, "Who is this?" The woman asked, turning to Cassandra, the Doctor, and I. 

 

"I met her in the lobby," the young girl explained, trying to sound cheery. "She says she can help." 

 

The woman frowned slightly, "What did I say about...." 

 

"Talking to strangers," the girl sighed. "I know, sorry Mama, but..." Tears welled up in her dulled yellow eyes, "She-she says she can help and," she sniffed. "I don't want you to die, Mama. I don't wanna be alone..." 

 

The woman closed her eyes, as if to hold back tears herself, and turned to me, "Can... You do it?" She asked, slowly, "Can-can you heal... Heal me?" 

 

My eyes fractioned, but I nodded slowly, "I can try." 

 

The woman seemed to accept this, and closed her eyes once more. Biting my lip, I stepped forward. I tore off my gloves with my teeth, and touched her chest, closing my eyes. There was some kind of virus in her bloodstream, which I assume was something the nurses could easily fix, but didn't want to because of their lack of money.  

 

I moved my hands slowly, as if to scan her body. It seemed to crowd near her lungs and other body parts near there, but there had been some spread farther.  

 

How was I going to save her? I thought critically, chewing harder on my lip, her blood is... Poisoned, almost. Maybe if I had some way to clean it out-- 

 

I snapped my eyes open, an idea popping in my head, "That's it...!" I said, more to myself.  

 

"What's it?" The girl asked. 

 

I turned to her, "I-I know this is going to sound... Weird, but, can I have some of your blood?" 

 

The girl gaped at me, "Wha-- why would you need my blood?" 

 

"Your mother, there's something in her blood. I-I think that if I take your blood, I can use it as a... Cure, kind of," I explained, and the Doctor's eyebrows furrowed, but he said nothing to me. 

 

"How are you going to do that?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. 

 

"May I see your arm?" I asked, and she gave me her arm, rolling up her thin sleeves. I quickly created a small blade of ice, "This may hurt a little," I warned in advance. Taking her scaly arm, I slowly cut a small stream of blood, making her hiss in pain. I held the blood in the air, and took the ice, cutting my own arm open and mixing it with the blood. 

 

I melted the ice, using it to heal the young girl's arm, and took the small blood ball. Everyone watched as I put the small blood solution into one of the empty medical bags, and hooked it up to the machine, and putting it into the woman's bloodstream. 

 

The room was silent as we watched the woman. As the mixed-blood solution went through her body, the pale green scales slowly began to regain color. Everyone seemed to be shocked as the short, uneven gasps of aid the woman took became longer and much more even.  

 

I slowly smiled, my idea worked! "She'll be okay..."  

 

"How-how did you do that? What did you do?" The girl questioned, turning to me, "How-- are you okay?"  

 

I wasn't able to answer because I fell on one knee, trying to regain my breath. The Doctor rushed to my side, "Auggie!" 

 

"I am fine," I said, gasping, "I just need a moment to--" I coughed roughly, blood springing out of my mouth. Dammit, I pushed the side effects back too far! I didn't have time for this!  

 

"Auggie! We need to get you to--" 

 

"I'm fine," I hissed, standing up shakily. "I'm fine. I just need to catch my--" another cough, "... Breath..." 

 

"We're getting you help," he said firmly, taking me by the shoulders. 

 

"What, help from the crazy cat people!?" I exclaimed, my blood pressure rising. "I don't need help! I'm fine!" I yanked my shoulder back, standing away from him. I felt my powers flare in my hands, making my eyes dart down on it. I looked around frantically for my missing gloves, patting my body down while doing so, "My gloves. Where's my gloves?" 

 

I finally spotted them on the dresser beside the bed, as did the Doctor. Before I could snatch it away, he grabbed it, and held them away from me, "I'll give you your gloves, if you go lie down." 

 

"I need it, Doctor!" I exclaimed, holding my hands to my chest, in as if it would to protect them. "Give me my gloves!" 

 

"Go. Lie. Down, Auggie." 

 

My eyes narrowed to slits, "I'm not Auggie!" I growled, I jumped for my gloves, also trying not to touch him, but he held them away from me.  

 

Huffing, I looked away, feeling way to lightheaded to jump again, "You know what? Whatever. Keep the damn gloves." I looked at the young girl, who was looking at me, fear twinkling in her eyes. My glare softened, "I hope your mother gets better..." 

 

With that, I shoved past the time lord and went to exit the room. "Where are you going!?" The Doctor said, following me. It didn't take me more than a second to freeze his foot to the ground. That'd keep him there a while. "Auggie! Let me go!" 

 

I turned back, my eyes burning red and narrowed at him, "I'm not Auggie."  

 

On that happy note, I closed the door and began my trek down the metal steps.  

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Doctor's POV 

He pointed his sonic at the ice encasing his feet, vibrating the particles and turning it to liquid. Then, he went to go chase after the young girl."You just had to anger her, didn't you?" Cassandra scoffed as they looked down the hallway. 

 

"I was trying to help," he growled. After saving a hospital full of people, getting Cassandra to get out of Augusta's body, he really did not want to deal with the girl throwing a tantrum like this. Usually, she was well behaved. That is, before she was kidnapped for a year. He wondered what they did to her over the span of that time to make her so angry whenever he said her name? 

 

"I'm sure making her that angry was not going to help, pretty boy," Cassandra rolled Rose's eyes, crossed her arms over her chest. 

 

"And what would you know!?" He challenged, barely keeping his temper intact. Hmm, he had a temper now? That wasn't very new. 

 

"I was in her head, smart one. I know what they did to her. She doesn't like being called 'Augusta' for a reason, you know." 

 

He snorted mockingly and turned back around, still looking for her, while the New Earthian woman continued, "She was tortured. She was told that she wasn't 'Augusta', and when they did call her that name, it was to mock her. Did you know that she hates herself because of that? She doesn't want to be called 'Augusta' because she doesn't want to be reminded that you -- the only person she thought she could trust in the entire universe -- couldn't save her."  

 

He spun around on the woman so fast, he could've gotten whiplash. He glared heavily at her, "I tried everything I could! I didn't know what else to do! I looked for her for a week, and when I found her, it had been a YEAR! What did you expect me to do?!" 

 

"She trusted you, Doctor," Cassandra said softly, her eyes lowering to the ground. "She kept telling herself that you'd save her because you are the Doctor. You're supposed to save people. Then, she thought that you left her and didn't want her anymore. She was scared. A terrified child, and she was waiting for the person who had been the only real parental figure in her life, to come help her. Now... She doesn't know who to trust anymore."  

 

Cassandra let out a small, almost bitter, laugh, "She's so scared... So broken... She doesn't want to be hurt anyone, and doesn't want to trust anyone anymore..." Cassandra sniffed, a few tears escaping her eyes, and looked away. "It doesn't matter now. Let's find the girl." With her head held high, she walked down the hallway, the Doctor in pursuit. 

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< 

Augusta's POV 

I sat against a wall, breathing heavily. My vision seemed to fade in and out, but I forced my eyes to stay open. I didn't want help. Whenever I got help, something bad would happen. I didn't want to talk to anyone, or anything. I didn't want to do anything, it was no use. I wanted-- I needed to die.  

 

Was that why I kept acting so recklessly? Why I helped the girl's mother even though I knew I was in no condition to even move a drop of water, much less cleanse an entire body system! Why did I want to give up? Why was I so tired? What did I do to deserve this? Was it because I went against the Director's orders? Was this punishment for being-- 

 

No! I wasn't there anymore, I growled to myself, pushing my knees closer to my chest. I'm not with the Director, I'm not apart of the Phoenix anymore! My eyes trailed down to my hand, the brand seemed to burn into my dark skin. It still stung when I touched it, yet I knew there was no more pain. How that is possible is beyond my understanding.  

 

They told me the Mark meant I was their property. I still have the Mark, so that means I'm still in the Phoenix. I was still a monster. 

 

Was that why the Doctor refused to look for me for a year and a half? Did he know I was a monster? Did someone tell him? Maybe he only kept me because he wanted to use my abilities for himself, or to sell me again, like how Cassandra wanted to. Could I still trust the Doctor after what happened? Would he act like the Director? Would he try to hurt me? Did he want to experiment on me? Was that why he brought me here? Was I just a thing to him too? Did he finally realize that I was useless? That I was a monster?  

 

"Auggie!" His voice shouted from down the long hall, making my eyes fraction. He had found me already?! I moved to get up, looking around for a place to hide. I quickly ran down the hall, I heard his footsteps speeding up, probably hearing me. I turned right, only to find a door. I tried the knob helplessly, only to see that it was locked. 

 

"Wait! Stop," the Doctor shouted, making me whip around to look at him and Cassandra who was standing beside him. "Please, just-just let me talk." 

 

"Give me my gloves," I demanded, moving back, slowly. 

 

"After you let me talk, I'll give them to you, deal?" He offered. I pressed my lips into a thin line, and looked at the ground. 

 

"Five minutes," was all that escaped my lips, and he sighed in relief. 

 

"I'm sorry," He said immediately. "I never thought to ask what they did to you; you're still a child. You didn't deserve anything that was done to you. It wasn't your fault, it was mine. I should've looked harder. I--" 

 

"You can't change what happened," I said, softly. "I was supposed to be tortured. I deserve what happened. I'm a monster, and monsters' should be detained." 

 

"You're not a monster," he said, for what seemed like the twentieth time. "It's not your fault your have those abilities, it's the Director's. Just because they did this to you doesn't mean you have to pay for it." 

 

"What am I supposed to do!?" I said, raising my voice significantly. "I killed people--" 

 

"So have I!" He countered. 

 

"You're different. You had to. I killed them because I'm a monster." 

 

"Just because someone told you that, doesn't mean that it's true. You just saved that little girl's mother! Do you think monsters would do that?" 

 

"That doesn't make up for everyone else's lives..." 

 

"It's still something! If you were a monster, then you would've never saved her. I've seen monsters and you're definitely far from it." He took a step towards me, and I moved back, my eyes still transfixed on the floor. "I'm sorry for all those things I said, okay, but you need to stop thinking that. You're a wonderful girl, and I love you for that." 

 

"You can't love a monster, Doctor." 

 

"You're not a monster." 

 

"I was created to be the monster so nobody else would." 

 

"You're not a monster!" 

 

"Then what am I?" I demanded, anger rising, "I'm not exactly human, and I can't even get being a elementist right! I set thing on fire when I'm mad and I can freeze things and move blood and bend metal!! That's not normal! Only MONSTERS can do that, Doctor! Why do you keep saying I'm not a monster? Why do you insist that I'm human!? I'm not human! I'm not normal! I shouldn't even exist!!" At this point my entire body was trembling with emotions that I didn't even recognize, kept my hands together in an effort to not set something aflame, again.  

 

The Doctor stared at me. Then, he stepped in front of me, and touched my shoulder, "I'm so sorry," he said. "I'm sorry that you feel this way, and I'm sorry that you can't understand it either. I know you're scared, okay? You're probably terrified, actually. You don't want to hurt me, or Rose, or anyone else, but that doesn't mean you're a monster. You're right, you're not normal. You're a human-elementist hybrid. And I'm a Time Lord who destroyed his entire planet. And Rose is a human with another human inside her. That doesn't mean you're a monster because you can do different things. That just means your unique, you're special. You can do things I can't even dream about doing, and that's brilliant." 

 

My confused gaze didn't waver, "But, I've hurt people--" 

 

"Everyone's hurt someone," he interrupted. "It's what you do afterwards is what counts." 

 

"But..." I couldn't think of anything else, I couldn't say anything else. Did he really believe that? Was that why he kept saying I wasn't a monster? Even after I killed all those people?  

 

He reached into his pocket and pulled out my gloves, and put them in my hands, "Promise me something: Promise me you'll never hurt yourself while you're wearing these gloves, okay? Promise me." 

 

"I-I... I don't know, but... I'll try..." This seemed to be good enough for him, because he beamed at me, and hugged me tight.  

 

"Good! That's great! That's brilliant!!" He exclaimed, pushing me into his warm chest that smelled like Van-hill-na. "Now, we're going to get you and Rose help, but for now you're going to sleep." He tapped my forehead and everything went black. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta.
> 
> Please do not copy.


	23. C H A P T E R  T W E N T Y ~ O N E

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SOOO sorry for the long wait, I've been more focused on my Wattpad account and adding new stories on there, that I will be adding on here as well, and completely neglected you guys! Anyways, here's two new chapters! Enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: Violence, suicidal thoughts, physical/emotional abuse

Chapter 21: 

Augusta's POV 

"Hey, look, she's waking up," Rose's soft voice said from near me. 

I bleary opened my eyes to see Rose and the Doctor sitting beside my be-- no. Not a bed. I frowned, shifted a bit, "What the--" I wasn't able to finish because I slipped off the 'bed', my world going upside-down, and I fell, face-first, on the floor.  

"Ooo..." The Doctor groaned, "Sorry. You alright?" 

"... My head..." I muttered. 

"Ah, yes, your head. Sorry, again. Probably side-effects from Cassandra being inside you, and after using that much energy, et cetera, et cetera. Might feel a bit sick, too." 

I didn't answer, I just lied there, so the Doctor continued to ramble, "Well, I thought it'd be better if you slept in your actual room for a change, you only needed rest. But, I kind of forgot that you haven't been on a hammock in a year, so you've probably forgotten to hold your balance. Apologizes, again, but--" 

"My face hurts," I grumbled, loud enough for the two to hear and Rose bursts out laughing.  

"I-I assume it does, uhm, maybe we should help you up?" He said awkwardly, helping my up off the ground, and sitting me on a more balanced chair. "How are you feeling?" He asked after I had gotten myself settled. 

"Weird," I admitted. "My head hurts. My body is sore. My lungs burn, but otherwise, I'm completely fine."  

Rose laughed, "Are you hungry, sweetheart? We've still got pancakes and chocolate fudge ice cream, if you want." 

I frowned at her, "Pancakes? Tha-that's that circular... Oddly shaped small thing of... Food?"  

She beamed, "You remembered!" 

I didn't answer, I just rubbed my head, as if my headache would go away by doing so. "Why don't we leave you to wash up, eh?" The Doctor suggested, "Meet us back in the kitchen." He smiled at me, and then he and Rose left the room with me alone in it. 

Once the door slammed shut, I closed my eyes, _I promised the Doctor I wouldn't kill myself, I thought, getting up. Why would I do that? If the Director finds me, then were all going to die. Or, if I just die he won't be able to find me, and then I will be free, right?_

I sighed, rubbing my throbbing temples, _I'm so confused. First, I was with the Director, then the Doctor saved me, after I had tried to kill him, of course. Then, Cassandra told me I was dying? And what was that she said about 'locked away memories'? I remember all of when the Director would... Torture me, but what about the other stuff? Weeping Angels? Gwyneth? I feel like I've heard this stuff before, I just... I don't know._  

I leaned back in the chair, _maybe I should just... Stop? Maybe I should just leave. Find myself a place to hide? I-I don't know what to do at this point. What if my powers flare again? What if I can't-- ... What if I hurt the Doctor? Would he hate me?_

I pressed my lips into a firm line and stood up, going to the bathroom door, _I need to take this one step at a time. First; get dressed and ready. Second; make sure the Doctor and Rose don't find out that I plan, or well, I'm thinking about, leaving. Third; leave and find a safe, hidden place to live._

_Three steps, that was all I needed. Three steps._

**> *<*>*<*>*<*>*< **

"Hey, kiddo," Rose grinned, "You feelin' better?"  

"Ah, yeah, I, uhm, I feel... Better," I nodded and she laughed at my awkwardness. I actually wasn't, my head was pounding and I felt weird, definitely not a good weird, but I didn't want to tell the Doctor and Rose about that. 

"You're such a silly goose," she giggled, but I tilted my head in confusion, _goose?_

"I am not a... Goose..." I mumbled, looking down at my plate, that the Doctor slid over to me. 

"Now, I know you don't like pancakes, but maybe, just maybe, you're willing to give them another try? I mean, maybe you'll like them or something. But, if not, I'm fine with making eggs as well," the Doctor said, sitting at the table, and taking a bite out of his pancakes. 

I looked at my food, my mouth suddenly feeling dry by my stomach twisted. **"C'mon, Monster,"** the Director's words whispered in my ears. **"Eat. It's food. Aren't you hungry?"** I bit the inside of my lip, **"Oh, you're scared! Ha, look at that, you're too scared to eat a slice of food!"**

 _I'm not scared_ , I frowned, rubbing my head. _I just... What if the Director got to it, what if he was in the TARDIS and poisoned me? No, the Doctor wouldn't let him do that, he promised._

 **"Are you sure?"** The Director asked smugly, **"I mean, is he even the Doctor anymore? Look at him. He's different. Didn't you like the Doctor before he knew you were a monster? Now look at him. He's just a shameful copy of the one you knew. He doesn't like you anymore, he doesn't care about you!"**

_He does care about me... He told me--_

**"He lied! If he cared about you, then he would've looked for you, wouldn't he? He would've helped you! He wouldn't have left you here with me!"**

_Left me? He didn't--_

He laughed a loud piercing laugh that made me want to hold my ears to block him out, so I did. It didn't help. I could still hear him. "Auggie? You alright?" The Doctor asked me, but I didn't answer. His voice got louder, so I squeezed my eyes shut.  

 **"You fool! You're still here with me! You never left!"** He mocked. I felt the thick metal encasing my hands and the chains on my wrists, my eyes covered and my mouth gagged. I began to shake, my breathing quickened. **"You never left! You're still here! With _me_!" ** He shouted, piercing my shoulder slowly with his sharp, jagged knife.

**> *<*>*<*>*<*>*< **

Doctor's POV 

Augusta covered her ears, as if to block someone out and her body began to shake. "Auggie!" He shouted, going to her side. He went to touch her forehead, but he didn't need to, he could feel the heat radiating inches from it.  

"What's wrong? What happened?" Rose demanded, coming over. She was now crying, her mouth opened in silent screams.  

"She's ill," he concluded. "It's probably a fever. We need to bring her to the Medbay," he picked her up, ignoring the fact that she was literally burning through her clothes, and thus burning his skin as well, and rushed her to the medical room.  

He set her down on the bed, his trench coat was lightly singed now and had a few burn marks, but he didn't care. He quickly took her temperature with a metal thermometer, since she would simply melt a plastic one. Nearly 100 degrees Celsius. He mentally compared that to her usual temperature, with was normally 40-50 degrees, much higher than the normal human's. 

Rose looked over his shoulder and her eyes bulged, "100!?! She's running a hundred!?"  

"Her usual temperature is much higher than a normal humans, Rose," he explained as he sifted through the cabinets for a medicine to help her. "A normal human's would be 32-34 degrees, but hers is usually 40-50 degrees." He finally found the bottle he needed and unscrewed it. 

"What is it?" She asked, as he quickly went over and set it down softly on her head, watching as it seemed to melt into her skin. 

"Nitrogene compator," he replied, watching as her temperature seemed to drop a few degrees, "It's basically a ice pack that'll cool you down internally." 

She nodded silently, still staring worryingly at the adolescent girl, "She's gonna be okay, right?" 

He honestly didn't know. Curing a Elementist from a fever wasn't something he knew he was completely capable of doing. But, this was Auggie, his Auggie, so he wasn't going to let a measly fever defeat her.  

"She's going to be fine," he assured the woman, who exhaled in relief.  

 _"... Don't..._ " Augusta murmured in her sleep, her face contorting into fear. " _Please... Stop..."_  

"She-she's having a nightmare," Rose said, "We should help her." She reached out a hand to touch her, but the Doctor quickly stopped her. 

"Don't. I don't think she had complete control over her abilities right now," he warned. 

"So?"  

He frowned and looked around, picking up a popsicle stick that was laying on the desk. He showed Rose the stick, then touched her bare skin with it. Instantly, it caught on fire, making him drop it, leaving it to smother on the ground. "See?"  

Rose nodded, "Okay, so no touching. Got it. But now what?" 

"I can look for medicine for her, but I don't exactly know what is good and what isn't for a Elementist," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "There must be a book on it somewhere." 

"But what about her?" 

"She'll have to sweat it out for now. I'll have the TARDIS regulating the temperatures, but we can't stay in here." 

"Why not!?"

"Remember that one time with Mickey when he first met her and she had a panic attack?" Rose nodded, "The atmosphere around her got boiling hot. What I'm trying to say is: For our own safety, it's be best if we left her alone." 

"No! She's sick! She can't be alone! What if something happens--" 

"Then the TARDIS will tell us. Rose, I'd hate to admit it, but she's literally a ticking time-bomb. We can help her, yes, but we can't get to close or else we may get hurt."

Rose's eyes narrowed at him, but she sighed, understanding the complex situation. "Fine. Where do we start?"

"We should go check out the library." 

 **> *<*>*<*>*<*>*<** 

Augusta's POV 

_"Please," I gasped head handing limply and my arms chained up against the wall. The Director stood before me, flipping through a book that I didn't bother to read the cover of. "Please, I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disobey you, I--" I screamed in pain when he flung a knife at me, going straight through my shoulder._

_Tears fell from my eyes, and I bit my lip, choking back a sob, **"I**_ **hate you, Monster,"** _The Director stated, looking over his book and at the tray of devices he regularly used to torture me with._ **"You had one job: Kill the Doctor. You couldn't even do that. We taught you through it, we gave you the instructions, you were ready! Then,** _" he sighed,_ **"You slipped up. You refused to do it,"** _he stood up from the chair, holding a thick black whip. My lip quivered and my eyes widened._

**"Who would've thought?"** _He laughed, "A Monster turning against it's Master. To think, I did all this, I've watched over you, I created you! And then you screwed up!"_ _Crack! The whip went sending a riveting white-hot, searing pain through my body. I screamed, throwing my head back, hot, salty tears freely falling from my eyes._

 **"YOU SCREWED UP!** " _Crack!_ " **YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!** " _Crack!_ **"I LOST EVERYTHING!"** _Crack! Crack!_ " **MY JOB!** " _Crack!_ **"MY LIFE!"** _Crack! **"MY MONEY!!"**_ _Crack! Crack! Crack!!_ _" **I!"** Crack! " **HATE!** " Crack! " **YOU**!!!" Crack! _

 _I couldn't speak, I couldn't do anything. All I felt was pain, numbing, searing pain. I felt blood tricking down my naked body, but I didn't care. The Director stood before me, panting heavily, sweat lightly splayed against his forehead. He wiped it away and glared at me._ **"You made my life hell, so I'm going to make yours hell too,"** _he spat._   

**> *<*>*<*>*<*>*< **

Doctor's POV 

He finally found it, a ancient book on Elementist. It was a large, dusty book. He snatched it off the shelf and quickly brought it over to where Rose was sitting. She was currently submerged in tons of books all on medical health. She heard him rushing over and turned to him, "Find something?" 

"Oh yeah," he grinned broadly moving all the books off the table -- AKA flinging them off carelessly -- in order to make room for the one he held.  

"Hey!" She exclaimed, but he was too busy fishing his reading glasses out and flipping through the book.  

"Let's see... History... Society... Marriage... Ah, here it is, Medical Health," he flipped to the page titled Medical Health and read it aloud. " _'It is extremely hard to make a Elementist sick, do to their involuntary ability to burn away all bacteria/germs...'_ Blah, blah, blah... Ah-ha! Here it is! _'If this situation does occur, then it is highly probable that it is from one of the following situations: Their bodies were extremely weakened and did not have the energy to rid their the germ, causing it to spread and infect other parts of the body._

_"'Another possibility could be that he/she/their mental health has decreased greatly, causing a Mentalist to tamper with their minds. This could cause a high temperature, hallucinations, and fevers. This can be reversed by manually repairing said Elementist's mental boundaries._

_"The final possibility is that the Elementist could be dying, which would also cause high fevers, slight hallucinations, and then eventually death'..."_

Rose squinted as she tried to wrap her head around the new information, "Wait, so, she could either be exposed to a bad illness, someone could be literally driving her mental, or she could be... _Dying_...?" 

The Doctor bit the inside of his cheek, he could feel this becoming a nasty habit in the future. "That's what it says." 

"Okay, so, maybe she's just sick, and it's just a fever--" 

"That's a big maybe, and..." He sighed, "She was taken by the Director for a year-and-a-half. Even if I did fix her mental boundaries, it would take forever. And besides, she could also be--" 

"No," Rose frowned, knowing exactly what he was referring to, "She's not dying." 

"How do you know?" 

"She's-she's just not..." Rose trailed off.  

"Rose, I'm sorry, but, what if she is dying? I mean, she's already been unstable for Rassilon knows how long..." 

"So you're just gonna let her die then?" She demanded harshly.  

"I'm not going to let her die, that's the last thing I want her to do," Rose didn't meet his eyes because her own were growing with tears, he didn't blame her. Auggie was like a little sister to her, and he knew exactly what it felt like to lose a sister. He knew it all too well, in fact... 

"Look, we'll figure it out o--" there was a loud, sharp, eardrum shattering scream that made them both jolt in their seats. The jumped up, racing out of the library and down the hall, going straight into the med-bay.  

The door was open, just as he left it, but instead of Augusta lying on the bed, she was curled up against the wall, a box of ice surrounding her. Rose shivered, the room had gone down several degrees, so it had been very, very cold. He went to the closet, where the TARDIS gratefully provided both with thick winter coats. 

He slipped it on, tossing one to Rose, and slowly went over to Augusta.  The ground was layered in slippery ice, so he had to tread carefully in order to not slip and fall down. 

When he finally made it to the young girl, he softly knocked on the ice. He could tell it was several inches thick, 5-7 inches, maybe. 

Augusta looked up, her eyes were red and her hair was a bushy mess. A haunted, terrifying look blanketed her face, "Hey, kiddo," he greeted with a warm smile, "How ya feelin'?" 

She pressed her lips into a thin line, _"I-I'm sorry,_ " she stammered, tears brimming her eyes. _"I'm-I'm so, so sorry! I won't-- I won't disobey you again, I swear! Please don't hurt me anymore,_ " she whimpered.  

"Hey, look, it's me," he said, swatting in front if the box. She's definitely been having hallucinations, that's for sure, "Look! It's the Doctor. I'm not the Director, so I won't hurt you, I swear on my hearts." 

_"I ruined everything..."_

"You didn't ruin anything," he assured, "Why don't you come out, and we can talk about it, huh?" 

 _"... I don't-- I don't want anymore punishments..."_ She murmured, almost to the point where he was unable to hear her.  

"Listen, Auggie--" 

_"I'm not Auggie. I'm-I'm--"_

"Okay, okay, I know, you're not Auggie. But, you've got to calm down, okay? Come out so we can talk. I can help you." 

_"... I'm scared..."_

"I know, but you can't stay in there forever. You're sick, you need help." 

She looked down, slowly, the ice around her melted into the air, as if to be steamed. Seconds later, the ice exterior was gone, and the room had went back to its normal temperature. He stripped off his coat, and watched the girl, "I'm going to help you, but you have to let me, okay?" 

He reached out his hand to touch her temple, and she shrank away. He stopped for a minute, waiting for her. A small part of him felt like he was coaxing a scared animal. Or an Elementist with a awfully bad case of PTSD, in this case.  

Finally he touched her forehead and pushed himself into her mind. 

**> *<*>*<*>*<*>*< **

_At first, everything was dark, as if he was floating in nothingness, then he heard a scream. His eyes snapped open._

_He was in a small cell, Augusta was sitting, chained up against a wall. She was nude. Her hands were encased with thick metal, and her body bloody with more scars than he could possibly count. He saw little dots and lines that he assumed was from experimentation. He saw whip scars, knife scars, there were even burn scars, which he didn't quite understand seeing as she was heat resistant._

_Either way, she was in pain. Tear stains streaked her cheeks, and her face contorted into evident pain. Her lip was swollen, her right eye was blackened and her body covered in bruises,_ "Auggie?" He called, and she didn't even stir.  

 _He stepped closer,_ "Auggie? Wake u--" _he touched her shoulder and immediately she shot up, her eyes wide with terror. There were also dark bags under them, signaling sleep deprivation._

 _"I fell asleep...!_ " She said in horror, _"I'm-I'm... I didn't--"_

"Hey, hey, calm down," _he said, bending down to her level._ "It's okay. I'm right here..." 

_Her mouth fell agape, her breathing increasing, "D-Doctor?"_

_A small smile fell on his lips,_ "Yeah, it's me. Listen, I'm going  to help you but--" _he was cut off by the door creaking open slowly and a man stumbling in. It was the Director._   

 **"Lil' bitch,** " _he slurred. He crinkled his nose in disgust, being able to smell the alcohol from where he stood._ **"You-You ruin everything!"**

 _"P-P-Please,"_ _she begged, pressing herself against the wall, trying to get herself as far away as possible._ _"Don't do this again, please!"_ _Again?_

"Auggie, listen, this is all in your head. You can stop him. You're stronger than him." 

 _The Director picked up a long knife off a silver tray that held multiple weapons, most of them being torturing devices._ **"You're a monster!"** He spat angrily, **"You kill everyone!"** _She squeezed her eyes shut as he pressed her against the wall, tracing the sharp blade down her cheek. A morbid giggle escaped the man's mouth,_ **"You're _mine_. I _own_ you."**  

 _He watched in horror as the man cut her arms, making blood drip down. He moved the man out of the way, and holding the girl by the shoulders,_ "Augusta, you can stop this! You can stop it all just push him away!" 

 ** _"GET AWAY!!"_ **_The Director screamed, pushing him with such force that he slammed into the stone wall, making a dent along with it. The Director glared at the girl,_ **"YOU HAD ONE JOB! ONE! AND YOU COULDN'T DO IT!!"**

_"I'm sorry," she sobbed, "I can't I--I couldn't--" he smacked her straight across the face, then grabbing her jaw tightly._

**"Disgusting Monster,"** _he growled._ **"No wonder that Time Lord left you."**

"Don't listen to him," _he warned, getting up,_ "I didn't-- I didn't mean to leave you. I promised I never would." 

_"... Don't, please..."_

" _ **WEAK!"** The Director yelled, his fist punching her in the stomach,_ " ** _USELESS! NO-GOOD MONSTER!!_** " _He jumped at the man, tackling him to the ground. He pushed him to the side and went to the girl who was crying._

"Don't listen to him, you're not a monster. You never were. You're Auggie, my Auggie. You don't realize it now, and I don't think you ever will, again, but... You'll always be Auggie to me, and I'll always love you, no matter what. Don't listen to him, his opinion doesn't matter. You're an amazing, brilliant girl, and I love you for that." 

 **"LIES!"** _The Director roared and the Doctor shot him a glare._

" _Enough_ of that," _he growled, holding a hand to him, freezing him in place. He turned back to the young girl,_ "Listen to me, you're sick. You can get better, but we need to fix your mental boundaries first, okay?" 

_"How?" She asked._

"You're stronger than this man, you can beat him. You just gotta try," _he said, stepping away from the young girl._

_"I can't... I-I'll be punished I--"_

"No one's gonna hurt you, you have my word." 

 _She slowly nodded and turned to the man, who suddenly unfroze, glaring at the girl._ **"YOU'RE A MONSTER! A BEAST! A _THING_!"** _He shouted, but she closes her eyes, trying to thinking none of it._

_She took a deep, shaky breath, "Go," she declared. "Go away!"_

"You think that is going to work, Monster!? I am far strong than--" 

_"LEAVE!!" She screamed, making the man stumble back. A roar erupted from his mouth, and he clenched his chest until finally, he burst into flames, and disappearing into a pile of ashes._

_He turned back to the girl, who was panting heavily. Whipping out his sonic, he undid the chains on her hands, catching her before she could fall on the ground. He took off his coat, draping it around her shoulders._

_"You actually came..." She murmured in his chest. "You... You didn't leave me..."_

_He sighed,_ "Auggie, I never got to save you, and I apologize for that. Right now, we're in your mind. I'm going to help you rebuild your mental boundaries, but it's gonna take some work." 

_"... Tired..." She mumbled._

_He sighed, she did defeat the Director, at least her nightmarish-version of him, it would be best for her to get some rest. She was still sick, of course. He ruffled her messy hair and pulled himself out of her mind._

**> *<*>*<*>*<*>*< **

As soon as he let go, Augusta fell limp in his arms, her ragged breathing became much smoother and she wasn't as burning hot anymore. He scooped up her unconscious body and laid her gently in the bed. "Is she okay?" Rose asked, looking at the sleeping girl. 

"Yeah... Her mental boundaries are a mess, but if I work hard, we could get it fixed." He frowned to himself, curiously lifting up the side of her shirt. His eyes widened at the amount of light brown scars that littered her skin, all in the same places as they were in her mind.  

He pressed his lips together and clenched his fists, his eyes darkening. The Director did this to her. He tortured her. He hurt her. He swore to himself that he'd find this Director, whoever he was, and make him pay for hurting her like this. 

He stood up, his gaze not leaving her body, "She'll need a few days to recover, then I can go back in and help her," he explained. "I don't know how long it'll take for to be fully healed, but it would be a while. Until then she should rest," he smiled comforting at Rose, who gave a sheepish smile back. Her cheeks dusted in a red blush and her eyes darted away. 

A yawn erupted in her throat, "Well, I'm gonna go lie down. You know, take a power nap," she announced heading for the door, "Wake me up if someone happens with her, got it?" 

When he nodded, she took this as her leave and exited the room.  

He looked down at the girl, who was taking short, steady breathes. He too felt physically exhausted after everything that happened lately. He needed a break, and letting his body rest for an hour or so would probably be best.  

"You'll wake me up if something happens, won't you Old Girl?" He asked his TARDIS, and earned a soft, purring hum in response. A ghost of a smile fell on his lips as he too went for the door and leaving the room. 

**> *<*>*<*>*<*>*< **

Augusta's POV 

My eyes snapped open and I shot up. _Don't sleep. Don't sleep. He'll get you,_ I chided myself instantly as I looked around.  

I recognized the room as the TARDIS Medical Bay, neither the Doctor nor Rose was in the room with me. I checked my arms. _No needles, good._  

I sat up on the bed. My eyes felt heavy, but I refused to let them close. The Director's laughter and cruel words echoed in my head every time I tried to close my eyes. _I don't want to hear it anymore..._

My eyes trailed down to my slightly shaking hands, _where was the Doctor and Rose? Maybe they're sleeping or-it went out or something. My head didn't hurt as much, and I didn't feel as dizzy, so the Doctor probably fixed me, maybe._

I brought my knees to my chest. _I don't want to be here anymore... I wanna go... Home._

_But, where was home? What even is a 'home'? Did I even have a place to call home? I wouldn't call my cell my home, and I don't want to stay here and hurt the Doctor and Rose. I'd be best staying out somewhere by myself. That can be my home. A place where I can't hurt anyone anymore._

I sighed, leaving against the bed and staring at the ceiling. My mind flooded with these pondering thoughts, and I didn't take a second to actually sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta.
> 
> Please do not copy.


	24. C H A P T E R  T W E N T Y ~ T W O

Chapter 22: 

Augusta's POV 

I wasn't able to leave the TARDIS for several days because of the Doctor.  

He was really worried about how I... Felt. It was almost weird. At first, I couldn't use my abilities without accidentally setting a entire room on fire, but now it's more under control, so I should be as fine as I was before, which wasn't very much, honestly.  

Anyways, the Doctor has been doing these 'mental exercises' with me because my mental boundaries was the main reason why he wouldn't let me go anywhere.  

As for my physical health, has been... Okay.  

No, that was a lie. I haven't been able to sleep in the last few days, which causes my powers to fluctuate and sometimes even die out. And, I don't trust myself to eat but the Doctor has noticed this, and sometimes refused to let me leave until I ate everything. Like now, actually. 

"Just eat it," he ordered, but my arms were stubborn crossed over my chest and my head turned to the other side. "It's not poisoned, Auggie." 

I sighed at the mention of ' _Auggie_ '. _It wasn't my name, but he refused to call me anything other than that, so I just decided to ignore it for now._ "No." 

"Auggie, you're skin and bones, you need some nutrients." 

"I'm not going to eat it."

"Fine. What if I eat a bit of it?" 

"The poison doesn't affect you Doctor," I suppressed an eye roll. "It'll just taste like normal food." 

"And what would it do to you?" 

"... It'll take my abilities away." 

Another sigh of exasperation left his mouth, "Auggie, how many times do I have to--" 

"Don't," I frowned at him, "I don't want to hear it again. I'm not going to eat it." Before he could protest, I whipped off my glove and turned the entire plate to a frozen ice block with several small spikes of ice sticking out.  

The Doctor glared at me, "Augusta unfreeze the plate," he scolded in an odd tone I didn't recognize. 

"No." Just as I said that, Rose waltzed in the room. 

"What's goin' on?" She asked, her colored lips turning into a frown when she saw me, the Doctor, and a frozen block of food on the table. 

"She's not eating," the Doctor summarized, turning back to me. "Auggie, c'mon, just eat it." 

I didn't saw anything, I didn't want to argue anymore. I was done.  

I got up from my seat and went for the door silently, "Where do you think you're going!?" The Doctor shouted behind me, but I didn't answer as I went down the hall. 

 **> *<*>*<*>*<*>*<** 

I sat in my room, staring silently at the ceiling, rocking back and forth on my hammock bed. A small ice ball dropped up and down beside me as I lazily commanded it to my will. 

There was a short rapping at my door, "Auggie?" Rose's voice from behind it called, "Can we talk?" 

When she didn't hear a reply, she came in anyway. She wore a short-sleeved pink shirt and suspenders that had shorts at the bottom, black see-through leggings and black boots.  

I noticed that she cut her hair short to her shoulders and her eyes hold a kind patience to it. I did not stop messing with my ice ball and staring at the ceiling. She pulled up a chair and sat beside me.  

A tense silence falls between us. Finally, she spoke up, "Auggie, the Doctor only wants to help. He's worried about you," she said, earning no reply. "We want to make sure you're okay and that you're taking care of yourself... We don't want you to--" 

" _Hurt myself_?" I finished, bitterness etching my tone. "Don't worry. I promised I wouldn't. I don't break promises." 

"Yeah, well, you're not eating and that counts as hurting yourself," she chided. I turned my back on the woman, the hammock swinging slightly in my movement. The ball of ice moves up and down more sharply as I stare at it in boredom. 

"Auggie..." she sighed. "Look. We're gonna go out soon, okay? The Doctor said that if you wanted to come, you can." A barely noticeable nod was my response, so Rose got up, I saw her twist her fingers nervously. "Augg-- Augusta, I'm worried, okay? I don't want to lose you, not again. I know you're scared, but... The Doctor and I won't let anything hurt you, I swear." 

No response. She sighed again, patting me softly on the shoulder and left the room. Her boots clanking softly on the metal flooring as the door closed shut in her wake.  

The ice ball beside me crashed into a heap of shattered, delicate ice as I broke concentration. A heavy sigh escaped me, as I stood up and going for the closet door. 

**> *<*>*<*>*<*>*< **

As I treaded down the hall, I heard loud odd noises being played in the console room, along with the upbeat sound of laughter and cheeriness. I entered the room and the Doctor and Rose are dancing around the console, before stopping, the Doctor staring directly at her, a look of playfulness on his features. "I can take you to the Battle of Trafalgar..." He tells, her, apparently not noticing me yet, "The first anti-gravity Olympics... Caesar crossing the Rubicon... or... Ian Dury at the Top Rank, Sheffield, England, Earth, 21st November, 1979. What do you think?" 

"Sheffield it is!" Rose laughed. 

"Hold on tight," he grinned as he pulled the lever. Rose hanging onto the console, I holding onto the wall.  

The TARDIS shudders and jerks, so the Doctor hits the console with a hammer, "Stop!" Rose called, laughing, and the movement stops.  

They fall on their backs, laughing and giggling. I stay by the door, waiting until they finish. Finally the Doctor stands, "1979. Hell of a year!" He turned, catching glimpse of my person, still waiting by the hall, "Hello, Auggie," he greeted, the smile not having yet leaving his face and exposing his pearly white teeth. "You coming?" 

I nodded, "I wanna go out too," I reply, walking over to the older adults. I wear a navy blue jacket and black jeans with a deep blue shirt underneath and my elbow length gloves on my arms. I tied my hair back in a ponytail, making it go a while bush near the back and slicked straight in the front.  

The Doctor smiled as we bounded for the door, he snatched his jacket off one of the Y-like structures that stand beside it. "China invades Vietnam..." He continued, still full of glee. "T _he Muppet Movie_! Love that film. Margaret Thatcher... urgh... Skylab falls to Earth... with a little help from me... nearly took off my thumb..." He opened the door, revealing a wide field. I tense at our surroundings, "I like my thumb. I need my thumb. I'm very attached to..." He falters, noticing it too.  

In front of us stand a dozen men, dressed in silvery armor, that I can immediately deduce to one thing: They're soldiers. For who, is beyond me.  

They point their metal and wooden weapons at us, and the Doctor raises his hands, Rose following his example. I, simply cross my arms over my chest, "... My thumb," the Doctor finished, with a small sigh. The guns click, ominously. The soldiers are armed and ready, "1879. Same difference," he shrugged, like it was nothing. 

A man steps forward. He wears more multicolored clothing as has small, metal rectangles on his clothes. I assume he is their leader, "You will explain your presence. And the nakedness of this girl," he ordered, his voice firm, like a leader's should be. By his body, he is also intimidating.  

His shoulders are square, his gun still pointed at us, and his legs slightly apart. His arms are rippled with muscle, and I assume his chest is as well. His voice stern, and his hair slicked back. His chin is held high, showing even stronger features, but they all give off a intimidating and authorial vibe. 

I easily took note of how his voice is far different than the Doctor's. It is thicker, almost. Like how my voice doesn't quite match the Doctor's or Rose's, most of the time. _I could change it if I wanted to though_. "Are we in Scotland?" The Doctor asked, feigning dumbness. He now sounds like the soldier, his voice thicker than it was.  

"How can you be ignorant of that?" The soldier scoffed, even he seems to know that someone can't be that dumb. 

"Oh, I'm-- I'm dazed and confused," he answered. "I've been chasing this... this wee naked child over hill and over dale. In't that right, ya... timorous beastie?" He quirks an eyebrow to Rose, silently signaling for her to catch on. 

"Ooch, aye! I've been oot and aboot," Rose replied. The fakeness in her voice makes me cringe, my nose crinkling. She sounds nothing like the soldier or the Doctor. 

"No, don't do that," The Doctor frowned disapprovingly.  

"Hoots mon!" She tried again, sounding more ridiculous than the last.  

"No, really don't. Really..."  

"Will you identify yourself, sir?" The soldier interrupted, having been annoyed by Rose's horrible accent. 

"I'm Doctor James McCrimmon. From the... Township of Balamory," the Doctor lied. "Eh... I have my credentials, if I may..." The soldier signals for him to continue, and he rummaged through his coat, pulling out his physic paper, that displayed nothing, but somehow seemed to fool them. "As you can see," he continued, "A Doctorate from the University of Edinburgh. I trained under Doctor Bell himself." False pride shown in his voice, to help them buy the fact that he's never been to college.  

"Let them approach," a old voice I didn't recognize in the carriage behind them spoke up, but the soldier was still very suspicious.  

"I don't think that's wise, ma'am," he suggested, bur the woman repeated her words from seconds ago. 

"Let them approach." 

The Doctor gestured towards the carriage, and the soldier has no choice but to begrudgingly let us approach. "You will approach the carriage. And show all due deference,"  he said in a monotone, irritated voice. 

There was a short man, who opened the door, revealing a woman wearing a white elegant gown and a sparkling crown on top of her head, filled with shiny rocks that reflected the sunlight in all different directions. "Rose, Auggie -- might I introduce her Majesty Queen Victoria. Empress of India and Defender of the Faith," the Doctor beamed. 

Rose moved in some sort of bowing motion, crossing her legs, oddly. "Rose Tyler, Ma'am," she greeted awkwardly. "And my apologies... For being so naked." 

"I've had five daughters. It's nothing to me," she replied like it was nothing. "But you, Doctor... show me these credentials," the Doctor handed the woman the psychic paper, and she looked it over, her eyes trailing to me. "And who might you be, child?" 

"This is Augusta," the Doctor answered for me. "Don't be shy, child, say hello." 

"Hello," I said, with a small wave. 

The woman nodded, acknowledging my presence, and looked back at the psychic paper, "Why didn't you say so immediately? It states clearly here that you have been appointed by the Lord Provost as my Protector." 

"Does it?" The Doctor asked, for some reason sounding shocked. "Yes, it does! Good! Good! Um.. then let me ask -- why is Your Majesty travelling by road when there's a train all the way to Aberdeen?" 

"A tree on the line," the woman answered smoothly. 

"An accident?" 

"I am the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland," she answered coolly, sticking her head higher. "Everything around me tends to be planned." 

Somehow, her words seemed to surprise the Doctor, "An assassination attempt?" 

"What, seriously?" Rose asked, apparently just as surprised. "There's people out to kill ya?" 

"I'm quite used to staring down the barrel of a gun," she replied. 

"Sir Robert MacLeish lives but ten miles hence," the soldier from earlier announced. Now he was sitting on top of... I actually have no clue what that is... "We'll send word ahead, he'll shelter us for tonight, then we can reach Balmoral tomorrow." 

"This Doctor, the child, and his... timorous beastie will come with us," she ordered.  

"Yes, Ma'am," the Soldier nodded, "We'd better get moving -- it's almost nightfall." 

"Indeed," she agreed. "And there are stories of wolves in these parts. Fanciful tales intended to scare the children. But good for the blood, I think," a hint of a smirk crept on her face, before disappearing. "Drive on!" 

As the carriage carried on, the Doctor, Rose, and I are sent behind to walk as it drives forward. "It's funny though, 'cos you say ' _assassination_ ' and you just think of Kennedy and stuff," Rose said. "Not her." 

"1879 -- she's had... Ooo... Six attempts on her life?" He shrugged, but a grin spread on his face. "And I'll tell you something else: we just met Queen Victoria!" 

"I know!" Rose answered, very excited. 

"What a laugh!" 

"She was just sitting there!" 

"Like a stamp!" 

"I want her to say 'we are not amused'," she said with a very high voice before going back to her normal one. "I bet you five quid I can make her say it." 

"Well, if I gambled on that, it'd be an abuse of my privileges of traveler in time," he said with a slight huff. 

"... Ten quid?" 

"Done." 

They laughed and began to talk again. I stared ahead, watching the... Things that the soldiers was walking on top of with curiosity. Some of them were brown, others white or black, but they all looked the same and was covered in shiny metal with ropes around their necks and inside what looked like their mouths.  

"They're called horses," The Doctor said, snapping me away from me thoughts. I looked up at him as he continued. "They're animals. Most humans use them for transportation." 

"Why are they sitting on them?" I asked, mildly concerned for the animals. 

 He pressed his lips together, "That's just how humans use them." 

_"Why?"_

"They... Just do..." A slight frown crossed his face. "So, meeting Queen Victoria? How do you feel?" 

"Should I feel different?" 

He scratched his cheek, "Probably, I mean, she is the queen." 

"What do you mean by that?" 

His mouth made a small 'o'. "Oh... You don't-- she's basically the leader of England, Ireland, and India. They're countries." 

I nodded, even though I didn't quite understand. "How are you feeling, Auggie?" The Doctor asked, now sounding very serious. 

"I'm fine," I answered automatically. "Why?" 

He gave me a short look, but didn't say anything. "We have arrived," one of the soldiers announce as we enter the large gates of a old stone building. I spot a man looking out of the windows of the house before turning away. 

Once everyone stops, one to the men go to the queens door, and helps her out of the carriage. The Doctor, Rose, and I stand behind them, as a tall man approaches the woman and does a bowing motion, the same one Rose did when she saw the queen. "Your majesty," he greeted warmly. 

"Sir Robert," the queen replied. "My apologies for the emergency. And how is Lady Isobel?" 

"She's... indisposed, I'm afraid -- she's gone to Edinburgh for the season," the man, or Sir Robert, as the queen greeted him. "And she's taken the cook with her -- the kitchens are barely stocked... I wouldn't blame Your Majesty if you wanted to ride on." 

"Oh, not at all!" The queen replies, rather cheerfully. "I've had quite enough carriage exercise. And this is... charming. If rustic. It's my first visit to this house. My late husband spoke of it often. The Torchwood Estate. Now, shall we go inside?" Sir Robert looks nervous and he shuffles his feet a bit and I narrowed my eyes. "And please excuse the naked girl," the queen added. 

"Sorry," Rose apologized -- again. 

"She's a feral child," the Doctor said, using his weird voice again. "I bought her for sixpence in old London Town. It was her or the Elephant Man, so..." 

Rose glared at him and he smirked, "Thinks he's funny but I'm so not amused." She said, pointedly looking at the queen. "What do you think, Ma'am?" 

"It hardly matters," she said, dismissing it. "Shall we proceed?" 

We then begin to walk inside, Rose turned to the Doctor. "So close!" 

"Not really," I frowned and she laughed. 

"Makerson and Ramsey, you will escort the Property," the soldier from earlier announced as we walked. "Hurry up." 

"Yes, sir!" They both answered, going to the carriage to pull out a small wooden box.  

This caught the Doctor's eye, as well as mine's. "What's in there, then?" He asked curiously. 

"Property of the Crown," he answered, a certainty for coldness in his voice. "You will dismiss any further thoughts, sir." The Doctor made a small pout to Rose as the man continued, "The rest of you go to the rear of the house. Assume your designated positions." 

"You heard the orders. Positions, sir," another soldier relayed as we entered the house. 

**> *<*>*<*>*<*>*< **

Sir Roberts let us into a large room with a glass ceiling and a enormous metal device in the center. "This, I take it, is the famous Endeavour," Queen Victoria asked, eyeing the large device. 

"All my father's work," Sir Robert said admirably. "Built by hand in his final years. Became something of an obsession -- he spent his money on this rather than caring for the house or himself." 

The Doctor smiled at him, "I wish I'd met him, I like him. That thing's beautiful -- can I um...?"  

Sir Roberts smiled, "Help yourself." As soon as he said this, the Doctor strode over, with us not far behind. 

"What did he model it on?" He asked, examining the device and the wheel beside it. 

"I know nothing about it," Sir Roberts admitted. "To be honest, most of us thought him a little... shall we say, eccentric." The Doctor laughed as he continues, "I wish now I'd spent more time with him. And listened to his stories." 

"It's a bit rubbish," the Doctor stated bluntly. "How many prisms has it got? Way too many. The magnification's gone right over the top, that's stupid kind of a—" he cut himself off when he saw the odd looks everyone was giving him. He bent over to whisper to Rose and I. "Am I being rude again?" 

"I think so," I said, and Rose nodded replying: "Yep."

"But it's pretty!" The Doctor said loudly, trying to cover up his words earlier. "It's very... pretty." 

Rose patted him on his arm for his hopeless effort. "And the imagination of it should be applauded," The queen stated. 

"Mm! Thought you might disapprove, Your Majesty," Rose agreed. "Stargazing. Isn't that a bit fanciful?" The queen just stared at her as she continued. "You could easily... not be amused, or something...? No?" 

"This device surveys the infinite work of God," the Queen replied, making the Doctor chuckle, shaking his head and smiling. "What could be finer? Sir Robert's father was an example to us all. A polymath. Steeped in astronomy and sciences, yet equally well versed in folklore and fairytales." 

"Stars and magic," the Doctor awed, his grin stretching. "I like him more and more." He continues to examine the device. 

"Oh, my late husband enjoyed his company," the Queen turned to Rose. "Prince Albert himself was acquainted with many rural superstitions, coming as he did from _Saxe Coburg."_

The Doctor whispered something in Rose's ear that I didn't hear as the Queen continued, "When Albert was told about your local wolf, he was transported." 

This caught onto the Doctor's interests, "So, what's this wolf, then?" 

"It's just a story," Sir Robert said, apparently uncomfortable with the topic.  

"Then tell it," the Doctor said, but a frown deepened on Sir Robert's face. He glanced around, looking at man in the corner of the room, who was staring at him, tight lipped frown. 

"It's said that--" he said in a haunting tone, but the man stepped in before he could finish. 

"Excuse me, sir," he interrupted. "Perhaps her Majesty's party could repair to their rooms. It's almost dark." 

Sir Robert nodded, more than eager to get out of the room, "Of course. Yes, of course." 

"And then supper. And..." She turned to Rose with a sigh. "Could we find some clothes for Miss Tyler? I'm tired of nakedness." 

Rose gave her a pointed look, "It's not amusing, is it?" The Queen looked at her strangely, but decided to ignore her comment. 

"Sir Robert, your wife must've left some clothes," she continues. "See to it. We shall dine at seven. And talk some more of this wolf. After all... there is a full moon tonight." The Queen smirked teasingly but something about that seemed to bother the man because he stiffened. 

"So there is, Ma'am," he gave a quick bow and exited the room with the queen. A maid pulled Rose away, going down a separate hallway, while the Doctor followed the Queen eagerly.  

I didn't follow them out, "You coming, Auggie?" The Doctor asked, his head poking over the door. "We can have dinner with the queen! That sounds fun, huh?" 

When I didn't answer immediately, the Doctor came over, "Are you feeling alright, Auggie?" 

"I'm fine..." I mumbled, turning to him, "I just, uh, wanted to look at that..." 

He gave me a small frown, "Are you sure? You look a little--" 

"I'm fine, Doctor," I interrupt harshly. _"I am."_  

He sighed softly, "Auggie, I know you've been through a lot, but this, it's got to stop. You need to take better care of yourself." 

"I'm fine, Doctor," I repeated coldly, my fists clenching into balls.  

"You're not fine, Auggie. You need help, and I'm right here to--" 

 _"No!"_ I shout, waving a hand at him. Piercing ice shot out from my hand, making sharp, lethal spikes in the ground, separating me from him. The Doctor stared at me in shock, but something else shined in his eyes as well.

**Fear.**

I turned away, squeezing my eyes shut so the tears that grew in the corners of my eyes wouldn't fall. My hands shook and I kept them tight to my chest, in a feeble attempt to protect him from me.  

"Auggie--" he began to say, but I shook my head. 

"Just... Go away," I muttered, still loud enough for him to hear. "Please." Now I was begging. _I didn't want him here anymore, I didn't want to be here anymore. I want to be alone, so I couldn't hurt anyone._

He didn't say anything. He just turned and left the room, closing the wooden door behind him. Once the door shut, my knees felt like jelly and I crashed to the ground. Soft sobs escaping my mouth in desperate gasps, _I don't want to be here. I don't want to hurt him, I don't want the Director to get me, I don't want to do anything._  

I don't know how long I sat there on the ground, trying to catch my breath. The sun had set, making the sky turn a purplish-orange.  

After what seemed like forever, I glanced over to the ice spikes, that were cracking and shattering on the dark wood flooring. I moved over, tapping the spikes. I was barely able to create enough heat to evaporate it. I sighed, rubbing my eyes that I knew were a sore red and stood up.  

My legs felt weird for sitting for so long, but I quickly grew adjusted and went to the door, where I found a man standing by the door. When I opened it, he turned to me.  

"Uh," I began to say be he cut me off with his hand. 

"Sir Doctor has ordered me to watch over you," he explained in a hard tone. I froze for a second, did he see my abilities?  

"Uhm, thank you," I said gratefully, "Did you see--" 

"I was given orders to not enter the room under any circumstances," he continued, and I exhaled in relief. "Shall I lead you back to the other, miss?" 

"Yes, please," I nodded, rather awkwardly. A soft smile found his lips, as he walked down the hall. We didn't even make it to the end before someone came behind him, tapping him on the shoulder.  

"Would you like a beverage provided by the kitchen?" A man asked, his face cloaked with a dark hoodie, only leaving his nose visible.  

"No thank you," he politely declined, but the man grabbed his shoulder.  

"I insist," he continued, somewhat darkly. "It is made from the finest spices in the kitchen for gratitude for coming to our humble home." 

The man shrugged, "If you insist," he took the glass cup from the cloaked man, downing it in mere seconds. Almost immediately, his eyes widened and the glass fell from his hands, only to be caught by the cloaked man.  

The soldier fell to his knees, "Hey!" I exclaimed, bending down next to him, trying as hard as I could to catch him, but with the extra metal armor and his size alone, it was nearly impossible, causing me to topple over with him.  

I glared up at the cloaked man, who had a smile stretched across his lips. He bent down to me, pulling a rag out of his cloak. Before I could protest, he shoved it against my mouth and nose. I tried as hard as I could to fight against him, trying as hard as I could to not breathe in whatever was laced into the rag whilst doing so.  

The man pushed my head into the rag and my vision flashed red from lack of oxygen until I couldn't take it anymore. I parted my lips, ingesting the substance, and seconds later, my vision faded to black. 

**> *<*>*<*>*<*>*< **

"Auggie! Auggie, get up!" Rose's frantic voice said, making my eyes snap open. My head throbbing, but I looked at Rose, who was looking at me, her eyes wide with fear. "Listen to me, you gotta get up." 

I frowned, looking around, we were in a cellar with several other woman. Metal chains hung off our wrists with a strange man in a cage, who was grinning wildly. "Auggie, get up! _Now!"_

The moonlight seemed to shine on the man and he roared, "Auggie! Get up!" Rose screamed, snapping me away from my thoughts. 

I turned to the walling where the metal was latched unto. I rose a hand, forcing my body to control the small grains of earth inside. The other woman pulled as hard as they could as the metal began to slowly bend and crumble, but not quick enough because the bars on the man began to shift and change into some kind of animal. As the women pulled, I focused my attention on the cage, holding my arms out to keep the metal in place.  

My nose began to bleed and my arms began to shake, and the bars rattle as well. "One, two, three, pull!" Rose shouted, and finally, the chain comes free, just as a door is forcibly opened.  

"Where the hell have you been?" Rose hissed in a sharp tone, I didn't care to look over at who it was, I kept my attention on the animal in the cage, who had apparently finished changing and was now grabbing the bars with strong hands. I gasped in pain, trying desperately to keep the metal together.  

"Oh, that's beautiful!" The Doctor gasped, in somewhat fascination. The animal inside stretching the bars across, fighting is empowering strength against my own.  

"Get out!" A man yelled and I gritted my teeth, my eyes slowly turning a burning red. The animal head butted the cage, causing me to stumble back. My chest heaved and my eyes narrowed. The animal bared it's lethally sharp teeth at me and growled.  

Then, much to my surprise, someone grabbed me by the waist, "Out!" The Doctor screamed, pulling me away and out of the cellar. Simultaneously, the animal ripped the cage open. _"Out! Out! Out! Out! Out! Out! Out! Out! Out!"_ They dragged me out of the room, slamming the cellar door shut.   

I gasped as the Doctor set me down on the ground, away from the door where the animal pounded on. I writhed in pain, squeezing my eyes shut and I coughed, blood splattering my hand.  

"Auggie, are you okay?" He asked me, but I didn't even try to answer him. My heart was racing, sweat dripping off my brow, my sight began to blur in and out of vision. I began to fall into another fit of coughs, "Auggie!" He turned away, looking at someone else, "Get her somewhere safe, hurry!" 

Then I was being picked up again, and brought into another room. The sharp scent of unfamiliar spices filled my nostrils. I grimaced, trying to move away, "You mustn't move, miss," the man's thick voice warned, but I still struggled to get away.  

I cranked my neck to look behind the man. The Doctor was pacing across the hall, muttering words to Rose that I couldn't quite hear. The man set me down on a chair before promptly leaving once again.  

One of the women came over and gasped, "Oh dear!" She exclaimed, pulling out what looked like a white rag, and wiped at my nose, which was still bleeding, but not as excessively as before. "What in heavens name-- are you okay? Are you hurting anywhere else?" 

I failed to answer again, I only moaned slightly, placing my head down on the table. "What is it? Are you bruised? Wounded? Please, tell me where, I can help." 

"... I'm... _Fine_ ," I murmured, slightly delirious.  

" _Fine_? You are a _far cry_ from fine, child! Now, tell me where you hurt. I'm sure there are some healing herbs in the cabinets somewhere." 

"Doctor..." I muttered, moving to get up, but I felt like my arms were complete jelly. "I... I need--" 

"You need to sit here and rest, child!" The woman snapped in a tone I did not understand. "You are in no condition to do anything right now!" 

I gave her a silent, odd look and suddenly there was a loud crash down the hall followed by several gun shots. One of the women gasp in shock while someone else we to check another door. "It won't open," she declared. "They've sealed us in!" 

"Oh, my Lady -- look!" They move to the window, looking at something I didn't care to see, "They'll never let us out. They mean for us to die!" The woman continued, now in full hysterics. 

"Don't say that, Flora!" The woman scolded harshly.  

I gritted my teeth, forcing my body to move. I slowly pushed off the table to stand up. My knees shook, and I had to grip onto the ends of the table for support. I was able to stand up completely before a sharp pain racked through my body, I stumbled, falling back down. My hand hit a glass plate that teetered over the edge, before shattering on the ground beside me.  

I tried to get back up, only to cut my hand on a sharp piece of glass. I hissed in pain, bringing my bleeding hand to my chest. "Oh my!" A woman said, helping me up gingerly. "Are you alright?" She looked at my hand, that was still held to my chest. "Let me see," she said, taking my hand.  

The wound didn't look too deep, "Child, you must stop, please," the woman sighed, as she tended to my hand. "I know you are scared but--" 

"The Doctor, he... He needs me," I mumbled, "I can help, just let me--" 

An angry scowl found it's way on the woman's face, "He does not need your assistance at this time, child. You need to worry for yourself and not for him!" 

"Please, if I can go, I can help and maybe even--" a burning sensation covered filled my cheek when the woman struck me across the face, her eyes set into an angry glare. 

"What did I just say!?" She nearly shouted, "You need to worry for yourself right now, not for him. We are all in danger from that-that thing, but being completely reckless will get us nowhere!" Her glare softened as she continued, "You did your part child, but for now you must rest. You do not have to fix everything. The burden of the others does not have to rest upon your shoulders." 

I stared at the woman, wide-eyed, shocked, and gaping. "Do you understand?" I numbly nodded, and she got up, smiling a bit, "Good." 

Suddenly, all the shooting and commotion stops, and everyone notices, "Did they kill it?" One of the maids ask, the same one that was freaking out earlier. 

The hall are is deathly silently, far too silent for any of our likings. Then, the woman motions for us all to come to the corner of the room, in a meek and feeble attempt to hide.  

We all comply, hiding away, seeing as we might as well prolong our deaths. A few of the woman whispers to themselves while others try to hide their sobs in fear and screws their eyes shut. 

Then, pounding can be heard down the hall, someone-- no, _something_ is walking down the hall. By the heavy footsteps and slight panting noises, we can all assume that it is the werewolf.  

Then, the werewolf carries on, not bothering to enter the kitchen at all. Once the werewolf has left the hall, I release the breath that I had been holding, along with pretty much everyone else. 

I shakily get up, looking around. I can't hear the werewolf anywhere near here, so it's not just waiting to jump us, "It's gone," I announced. 

"How do you know?" One of the woman demanded, her hands still shaking. 

"I can't hear it anymore," I answered moving to sit back down. _Why didn't it come in here? Was something in particular keeping it from entering the room? Like, a barrier, or something?_

"How do you know it's not just standing outside waiting!?" The same woman, I think the other lady called her Flora earlier, asked.  

I sighed, rubbing my cheek, "I just do." 

"That's not good enough answer!" 

"That's enough, Flora," The woman said, quieting Flora. "We need to find out why it did not come in here." 

"Y-Yes, Lady Isobel," Flora stuttered, looking away. 

"Maybe it didn't think we were here?" Someone suggested. 

"No, it is too intelligent than that, it would have heard us," Lady Isobel paced the room. 

"Maybe something warded it away?" Someone else said. 

When she shook her head, everyone sighed. We continued to brainstorm what could possibly keep the beast away for several minutes. Lady Isobel got up to glance out the window, and then she gasped. " _Mistletoe_..." She realized. "They're all garlanded in mistletoe and the wolf doesn't attack them. Who brought this into the kitchen?" 

"It must've been the Brethren," Flora assumed. 

"Gather it up," Lady Isobel ordered, "Quickly. Every last scrap!" Then, the women begin to search frantically through the cabinets for mistletoe, whatever that is, and dumping their findings on the table. "Quick, now!"  

As the women dumped the leaves on the table, Lady Isobel handed me a knife, "Could you begin chopping up the leaves, child?" 

"Y-Yeah," I nodded, taking the silverware from her and cutting the big leaves into smaller pieces. Another woman sat across from me, who was also helping to chop up the sharply scented leaves that me crinkle my nose, and even sneeze a few times.  

Flora came over, dumping the minced up leaves into a large pot that sat over a fire on the stove, stirring it around. "No sound of the wolf, my Lady," she announced as she worked. "Perhaps it really is gone." 

"Perhaps it's toying with us," she said, but continued to work anyway. "But my husband's up there. And if there's any chance he's still alive, then by God, I'll assist him." 

**> *<*>*<*>*<*>*< **

We finished the first batch, just as we heard loud pounding from upstairs. "Hand me a pan of the water!" Lady Isobel demanded. Flora scooped a pan of water from the boiling pot and delicately handed it to the woman with a top.  

She left down the hallway, but I quickly jumped up, feeling somewhat better now, and followed her. "Go back with the others!" She ordered, but I crossed my arms defiantly. 

"If the Doctor's in trouble, then I'm going to help him," I said, leaving no room for argument in my voice and standing as straight as I possibly could. A scream resonates through the mansion, and the woman scowled, but runs ahead, not bothering with me anymore, so I followed. 

Racing up the steps, we met the Doctor, Rose, the queen and a Sir Robert in the hall. The wolf is on top of Rose, about to harm her. Something inside me snaps as Lady Isobel threw the mistletoe water on the wolf, I clicked my fingers, turning the water a boiling hot in seconds.  

The wolf yelps at the pain of scorching hot mistletoe water and bounded in the opposite direction. I quickly went to Rose, who was eyes were wide with fear and she was trembling. "Rose!? Are you okay?!"  

"Yeah," she nodded, stranding up straight. "How are you feeling?" 

I blinked, nearly forgetting that I almost died trying to keep that wolf contained inside the metal cage earlier. "Oh, yeah. I'm fine," I nodded, but she didn't seem so sure.  

"Auggie--" 

"I am," I insisted. "Really, I feel fine." 

"Auggie, you should go back downstairs with the others," The Doctor said. 

"No! I'm staying here," I frowned, _I wasn't going to let him or Rose get hurt._

"It's not safe here, and were wasting time!" He insisted, although I refused to leave. The determination to stay was evident on my face. He groaned, knowing that I was not going, "Fine! Come on!" He said, racing down the hall, the four of us following closely behind. 

**> *<*>*<*>*<*>*< **

We quickly made it to a different room, "The observatory's this way!" Sir Robert told us, pushing the doors open and letting us inside. The large metal device still stood proudly on the center of the room, the same room that we were in earlier.  

The Doctor checked the doors, sniffing it. "No mistletoe on these doors, your father wanted the wolf to get inside! Get inside I just need time! Is there any way of barricading this?!" 

"I can try but--" I began but Sir Robert cut me off. 

"Just do your work and I'll defend it," he assured, and I rose an eyebrow, that was suicide. 

The Doctor must've noticed that too because he continued, completely ignoring Sir Robert's proposition. "If we could bind them shut with rope or something!" 

"I said I'd find you time, sir," Sir Robert said again, this time he was determined. Rose and the Queen stare at him sadly, knowing that there was not any other way. "Now get inside," he continued. 

I grounded my teeth, "Give me your sword," I ordered, tearing off my gloves with my hand.  

He stared at me, shocked, "Why?" 

"Just give my your damn sword!" I hissed, taking no extra time to pull it out of the sheathe on his side. I slid two fingers down the blade, making it glow a dark red, "I'm heating it up. It'll help you fight against it. Be careful and don't... Don't be stupid," I growled, handing it back to him once I finished.  

"How?" He asked, quite astounded. 

"Don't ask," I grumbled, putting back on my gloves, holding the door for the other two women to get in the room. 

The Doctor gave the man a grateful look, "Good man," he said, giving him a nod, and turning into the room following us inside. 

Sir Robert closed the door with his free hand as the Doctor runs to the queen, "Your Majesty, the diamond," he asked.  

She gave him a suspicious look, "For what purpose?" 

"For the purpose it was designed for." 

She gave him a unsettling stare before finally digging through the big bag that she had lugged around this entire time and revealed a shiny see through stone.  

The Doctor snatched it from the woman and ran to the device, "Rose! Lift it! C'mon!" He said, turning a metal wheel, Rose coming to his side to help.  

I stood by the door, guarding the queen and us as the two groaned and pushed. I can hear Sir Robert on the other side, "I committed treason for you," he told the animal. "And now my wife will remember me with honor!" I heard him grunt a few times, and then the wolf whined a bit, but then a loud scream of terror erupts from the man. The Queen went pale, her eyes widening in terror, while I kept a neutral expression on my hardened face, his yells not fazing me at all. 

His screams of bloody murder finally diminish and is replaced by the animal banging on the wooden door. Rose and the Doctor are arguing over something trivial, but whatever the Doctor is working on seems to be working, but not very quickly. With every pound, the queen flinches, most likely scared for her life. She holds onto the crossed necklace around her neck, breathing and whispering silently to herself. I took a deep breath, as the banging stops. I hear footsteps, charging footsteps.  

"Get ready," I announced seconds before the wolf collided with the door.  

I quickly ducked out of the way as splintered wood shattered over my body. Since I was the closest to the door, I took the bulk of the damage. I managed to push the queen out of the way so she didn't get hurt as much. A large piece of wood lodged itself in my leg, making me suck my teeth, trying not to scream in pain seeing we have way bigger things to worry about.

Like the wolf trying to murder us. 

The wolf growled at us, swiping a paw at the queen, who had her hands in front of her face in an attempt to save herself.  

Then, a magnificent bright beam spewed from the end of the large device, hitting the floor a few feet from the wolf. He continued to advance on us, but the Doctor threw the translucent rock into the beam, making the light strike the wolf directly in its hairy chest.  

The wolf staggers back and rose in the air, being engulfed by the bright moonlight. He slowly but surely shrinks back to its human form, which is a young adult male. He wore a shirt barely holding together and loose pants. 

He looks at the Doctor, exhaustion seemed to fill his helplessly blue eyes that is partly covered by his shaggy dark hair. His voice is quiet and matches his exhaust look, "Make it brighter," he says softly. "Let me go." 

The Doctor nodded, flipping a switch on the device. The bright moonlight from the shiny object covered his body. With one last howl, the wolf vanished from sight.  

I let out a heavy sigh once it disappeared, along with everyone else. I leaned back against the wooden floor quietly. I didn't bother to worry about the piece of wood still stuck in my leg. At least until Rose said something. 

"Auggie!?! Are you alright!?"  

"Fine. Just need some rest," I assured her, lazily. 

"Your leg... It's bleeding." 

I glanced up at her, then down at my leg, where there is a bit of blood coming from the piece of wood lodged in it. Grinding my teeth, I slowly pulled it out. A sharp pain goes through my body, but I ignored it. After a few seconds, it is done, and I tossed the bloody piece of wood across the room. Luckily, it hadn't been in too far or else it'd cause unneeded damage.  

Leaving my leg to heal later, I got up, "Wait! You're still--" 

"There's a perimeter around the house of soldiers," I announced distastefully, peering out the curtained windows. Sure enough, they were still there, oblivious to the fact that we defeated their little challenge. "Even with the wolf dead, nobody makes it out alive." 

I backed up, letting the Doctor checked the window as well. "You're right," he growled. We were in a bad situation. Anyone who goes out there gets shot full of bullets, but after a while, they'll know that something is up. If they find out that the wolf is dead, they'll shoot us with bullets. 

"Rose," I spoke up, but not looking at her. "Can I rip a part of your dress off? My leg hurts." 

"Course," she nodded. I took no extra time going to one of the silky-soft layers underneath her actual dress, and ripping a strip off, tying it tightly around my leg.  

I quickly checked the rest of my body for any serious injuries. There were a few splinters here and there, but otherwise, I was fine. I quickly went for the door, limping slightly in my step. "Where are you going?" The Queen asked. 

"How many more soldiers are left?" I asked. 

She frowned, "Not many. The wolf killed most of them. There should be a few still guarding the women in the kitchen." 

"I need one of your weapons." 

"If you're thinking of killing them--" the Doctor began, with anger in his tone. 

"I never said I was killing anyone," I cut him off, a but angry held think I'd plan anything like that. "Whoever is left should stay on one of the higher floors, it'd take longer for them to get you that way. We don't have a lot of time, so we need to start now." I turned to Rose, "Can you tell the woman in the kitchen this? Take the queen with you." 

"What about you?" Rose asked, concerned. 

"I'll be fine, but we need to hurry up, they will probably come in and check on the wolf soon," I said, heading down the hallway. 

**> *<*>*<*>*<*>*< **

When everything was set, I began to go outside. The others stayed by the door, only watching from a window. As soon as the door opened, all eyes turned to me. The sound of guns' safeties going off filled the brisk, midnight air. 

"Go back inside!" A gravelly voice ordered, his gun pointed at me. I kept walking, watching as his hands clench around his gun. "This is your last warning! Go back--" at a wave of my hand, he dropped to the ground, unconscious. 

Guns opened fire, bullets coming from all around, but the ground moved around me, shielding me as the bullets collided, making it bounce off harmlessly. I walked to the next man, who's eyes were wide with fear, and waved a hand at him, making him drop. 

Now, the men were coming towards me, knifes and swords on their hands. I stopped in my steps, bracing myself to fight.  

The first man came, aiming for neck. I easily twisted his arm around, tossing his knife a safe distance away, and tapped his forehead, dropping him unconscious. 

The gunshots continued to fire, and I gritted my teeth, readjusting my earth shield. Another cloaked man took this chance of distraction to plunge his sword at me. I pivoted, barely getting the chance to dodge, and tapped his legs, stopping the blood flow in them momentarily. He dropped to the ground in a cry of pain. I moved to touch his head when a knife was thrown my way. I moved my head, making it only scratch my cheek.  

The man went back, pulling out a few more, and I rose a hand at him. A dirt-like snake appeared in the ground, rapidly approaching him. A yelp of fear crossed his lips as the 'snake' rose, its dirt-like fangs bared at him, and snapped down on his body.  

I made sure he was fine, but the snake went back underground, chomping up more people and holding them there.  

A man lunged his spear at me, and I moved, but it cut my side, creating a shallow wound. The large, bulky, dark cloaked man smirked, and tried again. I ducked down, just missing it, and controlled the earth by his feet, making him sink into the earth. He dropped his weapon, trying to pull himself out, giving me the chance to tap his head, rendering him unconscious. 

I continued to go through each and every man, earning several injuries while doing so. After using up a ton of energy, it had finally gotten down to me and a man wielding a sword that trembled in his hands. I rose a shaky hand at him, only to have my vision blur and I fell to my knees. Perspiration made wisps of my hair that was tied in a ponytail stick to my forehead and I took shallow, uneven breaths. 

My weakness was evident, I could barely move. I could be finished in a single notion, so when the man gripped his sword, ready to deliver my death in a single blow, I complied, resting my head on the ground.   

Suddenly, there was someone in front of me, holding the enemy's arms, twisting it and making him drop the sword. A single, silent glare was given to the man who had tried to kill me, making him back up, and then run off. "Auggie!" The person said, going to my side and helping me up. I glanced at him to see the Doctor holding my side up, a worried expression splayed on his face. "It's okay, I got you, I got you." 

I looked over the field, the last few soldiers that we had were rounding up the cloaked men, stripping them of their weapons, and cloaks. "You did it, Auggie," the Doctor said, a smile on his lips.  

Finally, I turned to the sky, seeing a bright, orangish sun peek over the horizon. A hue of blue, yellow, and even purple circle around it, creating a beautiful display. 

I couldn't take my eyes off it. In fact, my hazel eyes only gotten wider and wider, gradually filling with tears, until they spilled over and down my cheeks. A smile grew on my lips. It almost felt foreign, smiling like that after not smiling for over a year.  

It was a strange smile, not like the one that Subject 12-June.34 did when he killed people using my hands. And it wasn't the one that the Director would do whenever he hurt or tortured me.  

It was a smile that Rose would beam at the Doctor, or one that the Doctor would do to me. It was strange, I didn't understand it; I couldn't understand it.  

_What is this feeling? Why is it making me feel... Weird? And why am I crying, I don't feel sad, and I'm not fatally injured. I don't understand..._

I turned to the Doctor, thinking maybe he could give me some type of advice to this. _Was he doing this to me? Why?_ "Wha-what are you doing to me...?" I asked in a small voice.  

"Doing what?" He replied, looking rather confused. I scrunched my eyes closed, trying to hold back any more tears. It didn't work. 

"This... It's... This feeling... I can't understand it. I don't know why I'm-I'm crying and I can't stop! _I can't!_ " I took a few breaths to calm myself down, "I-It hurts my chest... I... I don't understand... It feels like... A-A lot of colors I don't know... It's... Pink? B-blue? Yellow? I don't--" 

The Doctor gave a light chuckle, "Maybe you're having mixed emotions," he suggested and I stared at him.  

_"What?"_

"Maybe, you're just feeling sad and happy at the same time," he said, trying again.  

"I... How? I don't know-- ... You can do that?" Another round of chuckles. 

"Yes, it's called feelings, Auggie," the Doctor said, stroking my messy hair. 

"How... How do I stop these feelings? It's making me feel... Weird..." 

"You can't stop them, you can only... Embrace them," the Doctor answered wisely. I opened my mouth to say something else, but he shushes me. "You did very well today, Auggie, but you need to rest." 

 _"I'm fine..."_ I lied through my teeth, earning a glare from the Doctor. 

"Do you want me to put you to sleep?" He threatened. 

I sighed, "Fine..." I murmured, getting up, but my legs felt numbed, nearly making me trip and fall back down had the Doctor not swept me off my feet.  

"Go to sleep," he coaxed, quieting me. I glanced behind him, watching as the sun rose silently. Animals began to chirp and screech with the day's awakening.  

As we entered the house and as I slipped into my subconscious, the strange smile never left my face. _Maybe, just maybe, the strange smile made me feel... Happy._


	25. C H A P T E R  T W E N T Y ~ T H R E E

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our Auggie is such a useless lesbian...

Chapter 23:  
Augusta's POV

A few weeks have gone by, the Doctor said I was doing better, mentally-wise. He said my mental boundaries were about twenty percent fixed, so there was still a lot to go. He also said that I've been doing a bit better physically as well. He seemed very... Happy for me, I guess, so I kept letting him think that. I smile for him and Rose, I laugh for him and Rose, I make him and Rose think that I'm doing just fine.

When I am alone and by myself, I feel truly like myself. When I am alone, I can't bring myself to smile. When I am alone, I can't force myself to laugh. At night, I can't sleep -- I don't sleep -- because the Director plagues my dreams. Besides, why sleep when I'm just going to have nightmares, anyway.

This lack of sleep causes me to develop dark circles that encase my eyes, and my movements to be more sluggish. It makes it a bit harder to keep my eyes open, especially when the Doctor is trying to talk to me, but closing my eyes and seeing the Director sneering at me gives me more motivation to not sleep.

"Auggie!" The Doctor shouted, gaining my attention again. I snapped my eyes open, looking at him, rather dazed. He looked concerned, did I do something? "Are you okay? Are you getting enough sleep?"

"Hmm? Yeah, I-I'm fine," I mumbled, rubbing my face. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"I asked if you were okay with going to school? Rose just got a call from Mickey saying something weird been going on, and wanted us to check it out. If you're not feeling up to it--"

"No, no! I'm good!" I insisted, but the Doctor didn't seem to convinced. "Really! Please, can I go? I've never been to a school before! What's it like? Do I need to talk to people?"

The Doctor smiled, "If you're so eager to go, then I don't see why I should keep you in the TARDIS then."

"So I can go?!"

"... Yes. But, you have to be careful, I don't know if they'll let you wear gloves, maybe I can ask if--" I didn't get to hear the rest, because I was already running down the hall to Rose's room to tell her the exciting news.

I can't wait to go to school!  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
I stood in front of a class of teenagers nervously. There were about twenty-five to thirty of them, sitting in front of black tables that went about six rows back. "This is Augusta Smith, she will be joining our class for the rest of the class," the older woman said, introducing me to the the class. "Augusta, you can sit next to Isobel; Isobel, can you raise your hand?"

A manicured hand went into the air in one of the inner rows, showing a very pretty red headed girl with forest green eyes, wearing a black uniform, just like everyone else. She looked at me, her eyes filled with curiosity, interest, and even a bit of kindness.

I slowly walked over, sliding into the seat beside her. Isobel smiled at me and I looked away, my cheeks suddenly warming up, and I resisted the urge to pull on them.

As the class went on, Isobel helped me one some of the things I didn't understand, but since this was math, and I was rather good at doing math, I was able to do most of it by myself.

Soon, the class ended, and we were to go to the next class, science. Isobel decided to talk to me around then too, "So, its Augusta, right?" She said as we walked down the hall. The next class wasn't too far, according to Isobel, and we'd be able get there soon, and have a few minutes before it actually started.

"Yeah," I nodded shyly, not having much experience with talking to other kids my age.

"I like that, it's cute," she complimented, making my cheeks grow warm again. "What school did you go to before you came here? Are you from America?"

"Uh..." I didn't know what to say, since I really didn't go to school before now. "Uhm, it was a small one, a-a long way from here. And, I... Yes? I-I think." My second answer came out more of a question.

"What was it like?"

"Uhm... Fun? Well, the Do-- I mean, my parents travelled a lot, so we really don't, uhm, you know..." I felt really awkward, I didn't know what to say to her. I wanted to curl into myself, she probably thought I was weird, now.

Much to my surprised, Isobel laughed, "You're really cute, you know that?" She smiled brightly at me, making my eyes grow wide. "It's okay to be shy, ya know. I moved before too, so I know what it's like to have to go through the scary 'new friends' thing."

I just stared at her. Her green eyes seemed to sparkle and shine. It even matched the great big smile she had on her face as well. She's beautiful, I thought, forcing myself to look away. Suddenly, my chest began to feel weird, like it did a few weeks ago at the Torchwood Estate.

"Do you mind if I ask why you're wearing gloves?" Isobel curiously asked.

"Oh, it's this weird uh, condition..." I murmured, pulling my gloves tighter on my hands.

Isobel smiled, making my chest feel weird again. I shift my schoolbag on my shoulder, distracting me with the little clips hanging off it. "Well, here we are. This is Mr. Roberts' class," Isobel turned to one of the other students, who had tapped her on the shoulder.

He was a male, with spiky black hair, dark eyes, and tanned skin. "There's a sub today, and he's totally weird," he told Isobel. His eyes turned to me and he quirked an eyebrow, "Who's that?"

"Augusta, she's new," Isobel explained, flashing another stomach-fluttering smile at me. "Augusta, meet Drake."

"Hi Drake," I greeted with a small wave.

He only nodded his head in my direction, "What's up with the gloves?"

"It's a condition," Isobel shrugged. "Hey, I'll talk to you at lunch, Drake, I gotta get to class or we'll both be late."

"Whatever," he said, waving us off and walking down the hall with his hands in his pockets.

Isobel laughed, leading me by the hand into the classroom. I was just as surprised to see the Doctor sitting at the desk, as he was. When he saw me being led in by the hand by Isobel, he smirked, chuckling a little.

I looked away, my cheeks heating up again, and followed Isobel to the seat. She had somehow managed to persuade someone into taking a different seat after spotting someone sitting in the last seat available for two people.

As the rest of the students file into the classroom, Isobel continues to eagerly talk to me, although is was more of a one sided conversation, really. She keeps encouraging me to talk by asking me weird questions, like 'What my favorite color was' or 'When was my birthday'. She even asked me for my phone number, at which I just handed her the phone that the Doctor and Rose gave me for the Christmas. Somehow, she figured it out and put her own cell phone number into my phone.

With the questions for my birthday and such, I had no clue how to respond, so I simply told her that I didn't know.

Somehow, we got back to the topic of my birthday. Or really, lack thereof. "What do you mean you don't know when you're birthday is?" Isobel demanded, crossing her hands over her chest and furrowing her eyebrows.

"I-I just don't," I stuttered, "I, uhm, never really had a birthday before, so..." I trailed off, not really knowing how to finish the sentence.

Isobel seemed pretty upset with this, but didn't get to continue because the Doctor already started the class, pointing to the board, which had the word 'Physics' on it, although I had no clue what it meant. "So. Physics..." He began with a grin.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
After a strange teaching on the works of 'physics' and how it applies to everyday life, we were finally excused to go to lunch. Isobel had invited me to sit with her and her friends at lunch, but I needed to go talk to the Doctor first.

"So," the Doctor said. He had been packing up a few items for lunch, but had let me stay with him and talk. "What's up?"

"There's something wrong," I immediately said, my voice full of worry, making the Doctor's eyes narrow at me.

"What is it?"

"There's this girl that's in the class, her name is Isobel. Whenever I'm around her my stomach begins to hurt, like there's something fluttering in my chest, and my cheeks warm up. I-I don't know what she's doing to me, but I don't know how to stop it. Maybe she's the alien we're looking for." The Doctor stared at me, shocked, with a incredulous look on his face. Then, his face turns into a smile, and he chuckles.

"Your face heats up?" He asked.

"Like it's on fire."

"And-And you feel like there's fluttering in your chest? Like there's butterflies in your stomach?"

I frowned at the weird question, "Uh, yes? I-I guess."

He laughed, grinning from ear to ear, "Okay! Last question: Do you think she's pretty?" I blinked, my cheeks heating up.

"I-I-I don't know, uh..." The Doctor gave me a look, not being able to suppress that grin on his face. "Y-Yeah... She's actually very pretty..." I admit, rubbing my neck. The Doctor barks out a laugh again, and I cover my face in my hands, hoping to stop it from feeling so hot.

The Doctor sees my embarrassment, and chuckled, "No need to be embarrassed, Auggie," he said, coming to my side. "This is a very important time in your life." I didn't answer, I just rested my head on the desk. "Look, Isobel isn't an alien. What you're experiencing, it's called love. Remember when I explained it to you?"

"A-A little," I muttered, sitting up. "But this! This is different! I don't even know her, Doctor! I just met her this morning and..."

"What do you like about her?" He asked calmly.

"S-She's nice... She smiles a lot at me, and tries to get me to talk about my past, but not in a mean way. She's funny, actually, and made me laugh a few times too... I-I don't know what to do, Doctor, I can barely talk to her! What if she doesn't like me!? What if she finds out that..." I couldn't finish my sentence.

"That you are an alien? That you have abilities? That you are different?" The Doctor answered, "Auggie look. If you really like this girl and she does you, then you should give her a chance. Now, I'm not saying that you should go spill your entire life story out on her, but I think you should be friends with her. Get to know her more, tell her a bit about yourself."

"What if she doesn't like me even after that...?"

"Then she's not worth it," he answered. "There's an entire universe of people out there, so if she's not the one for you, and if she can't accept you for who you are, then she doesn't deserve you."

I smiled softly at his advice, "Thank you, Doctor." I glanced out the window into the hallway. All the students are gone, having already went to lunch. "I'd better go, I'm going to be    late," I tell him, and I'm already out of the hallway before he can reply.

As I turn into the other cross-sections of the hall, I bumped into chest of a tall man, nearly making me fall on my butt, "Oh! S-sorry," I stammered out an apology. I looked up at the man, he was dark skinned and was bald on his head. He wore a suit and by the look of his stance, he was very intimidating. His shoulders square, his chin held high, definitely not someone to be trifled with.

"You are Augusta, correct?" He asked, his voice a deep baritone, matching his entire demeanor.

"Uhm, yes," I replied. "I was about to go to lun--"

"There is no need. I am Mr. Wagner, and you're needed in my class," with that, he took me by the hand, leading me the opposite direction. I didn't say anything, he was a teacher, and according to Rose -- who told me what I should, and shouldn't do at school -- I wasn't supposed to talk out, against teachers.

Mr. Wagner led me into a room full of computers. There were a few kids in there was well, all of which I didn't recognize. Mr. Wagner me at a computer, placing a bowl of... What were these called again? I think Rose called them... Chips?

"Here, you may eat this, and them start on the computer program," he ordered. I nodded, and began eating the chips, not wanting to make the teacher mad. I needed to stay here so we could find whatever was disturbing this school, which also meant playing by their rules.

I tried not to gag at the taste of the food that I was eating. They were weird, very slippery. They also had sort of an odd... Green taste to it. I didn't like it at all, but I ate them anyway, reminding myself of my mission.

Eventually, I choked down the entire bowl of the chip-thingy. Mr. Wagner stood behind me, he had been watching the entire time. He leading over to click on a icon on the computer, "Now, work," he ordered.

My eyes widened as a green computer matrix appeared. It was a code to unlock something, and it definitely didn't look easy. I began to type rapidly on the keyboard, my mind working a mile a minute as I tried to sort out the answers. My entire brain began to get engulfed into the computer. Nothing else mattered. I needed to finished the code. I needed to crack the code. I--

A hand was placed on my shoulder, making me jump. I mechanically looked up to see the man, Mr. Wagner, looking down, smiling at me. "That will be all for today, you may go home now. Thank you for your contribution. Come back tomorrow at lunch." I frowned, go home?

I turned to the large windows to see that the sun had gotten darker. I couldn't hear anyone else; everyone was gone.

Slowly, I stood up from the computer. I winced at the sudden movement. My head hurt, as if my brain was pounding against my skull. I took a sharp intake of breath, and began to walk. My steps had been wobbly, but somehow, I made it to the door.

With a hand on the wall, I was out of the hall, and going to the front of the school. My thoughts felt like mush. I tried to figure out where I was going.

I shakily began to walk down the hard steps. Once I got to the last few, I slipped, falling forward, head first. Instead of hitting the ground, I fell on someone else, making us both hit the ground. "Ugh..." The man muttered, sitting up.

I winced, rubbing my head again. That didn't help the pounding feeling in my skull at all, "S-Sorry I... I wasn't watching where I was go--"

"Auggie?!" The Doctor's voice said. My eyes widened when I looked up to see just who I fell into, surprisingly, it was the Doctor. "I've been looking all over for you? Where have you been!?"

"I... I got lost," I murmured.

The Doctor frowned, "For the entire day? I asked all your teachers, you just disappeared. Where were you?"

"Lost. I-I... I got lost..." I repeated, trying to get up. "Where's Rose? Are we going to go back to her house now?"

"What do you mean you got lost?!"

"I got lost, I-I don't remember," I frowned. What did happen? I remember going to this computer room, eating something weird and then... Nothing. Blank.

"Auggie, did something happen? Did someone threaten you?"

"No! I... Don't remember, Doctor. I have no clue what you're talking about," I tried to reason. I began to walk away, only to have my head hurt even more. I stopped, holding my head, taking a few gasps of air. That fall really didn't help with my head.

"What's wrong, Auggie? What do you mean you don't remember?" I didn't answer. My head was getting worse. I could hear my head pounding in my ears. I whimpered, holding my head, trying to block out the pain, like I always do. It didn't help, if anything, it only for worse.

I fell to my knees, gasping for air, I couldn't breath. I couldn't think. It hurts. Goddammit, it hurts so much. "Help..." I gasped before falling to the ground. The last thing I saw was the Doctor come to my side, before everything went black.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
I woke up on Rose's bed. A large, pink blanket covered my body, which had fell down slightly when I tried to sit up. At my movements, my head began to hurt again. I hissed, but got out of the bed anyway. I could hear voices down the hall, as I slowly walked. I hid near the wall, listening to their conversation.

"... Took her messed with her head. Nearly destroyed her mental boundaries, again," this was the Doctor's voice. "Surprisingly, it wasn't too bad, but if it happens again, it could do some serious damage."

"Are you sure she doesn't remember?" Rose? "What if she was lying?"

"No, she genuinely sounded like she didn't know what happened," Back to the Doctor.

"Why don't we just ask her?" Now, it was Mickey.

"Not the best idea," the Doctor replied. "She hasn't healed yet. I'd be best to leave her for now, let her heal," he paused. "Which means you shouldn't be out of bed, Auggie."

Now I revealed myself, frowning a bit, "Sorry... I heard voices, so..." Rose, Mickey, Jackie, and the Doctor sat on the couch, and on the chairs, talking amongst themselves.

"It's alright, love," Jackie smiled, "Do you want something to eat?"

"I'm fine," I answered, just as the Doctor and Rose said, "Yes."

I frowned at the both of them, but the Doctor continued, "We don't know what happened to you, and you need to eat something."

I huffed, glancing at the window. It was fully dark now. "How long was I asleep?"

"A few hours," Rose replied. My frown deepened, a few hours of sleep and I didn't have nightmares? Maybe it was because of my head, when it was hurting.

I quickly wiped the frown off my face, not wanting them to worry, and I stead replaced it with a forced smile. "How are you feeling, Auggie?" Rose asked.

"Better," I answered. "I was just a bit dizzy, but now I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," I gave her a fake, reassuring smile to soothe her nerves. I've been getting better at that, fake smiling. At first it was hard, I felt bad for lying to Rose, but it didn't take long for me to perfect it. Rose was easy to do it too, sometimes she'd see through my fakeness and call me out on it. I fixed that. The Doctor, on the other hand, was much harder. It took me much longer to do on him, most of the time he didn't believe me, and kept prying until he got to the truth. I learned to change that, add a bit of truth to my lie in order to make it more convincing, and it worked, especially on him.

This way, both of them are happy with what they believe, what they don't see. All I wanted them to be was happy, and now they are.

"How about some supper," Jackie announced from the kitchen, "I've made spaghetti."

"Spa-what?" I frowned, this word is very foreign.

"Spaghetti. It's a type of pasta. You'll like it, trust me," Rose winked, bringing me into the other room.   
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
After Jackie finished making the spaghetti, which I didn't particularly like, but Jackie looked really proud of the food, so I didn't want to hurt her feelings and forced it down anyways. Anyways, afterwards, Rose and the Doctor officially sent me to bed, saying that I needed to rest.

Jackie let me sleep in the guest room while Rose slept in her bed. The Doctor slept on the couch, Mickey went home, and Jackie retreated to her own room.

After a few hours once I could confirm that everyone was asleep, I sat up. I didn't like lying in the bed, it was uncomfortable. My eyes began to grow sore from lack of sleep, but I refused to close my eyes.

Finally, the sun had risen and I could hear the voices of Rose and the Doctor in the kitchen. I crawled out of the bed and stumbling out of the room. "Morning love, aren't you up early?" Jackie greeted. She was standing over the stove, cooking something. "How'd you sleep?"

"Fine," I replied, giving her a smile. The Doctor gave me a curious look, but didn't respond. "Where's Rose?"

"She's still in bed," Jackie replied. "I'll go wake her up. Watch the stove, Doctor, will ya?"

"Course," he said, as Jackie hurried out. He went to the stove, flipping over whatever was cooking on it. "So, Auggie, how'd you sleep?"

I looked at him weird, "Fine," I replied. "I just said that," does he know something? "What are you cooking?"

"How long were you up last night?" He casually asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, how much sleep did you get?"

"A lot," I lied. "I fell asleep after you guys told me to go to bed."

Now he frowned, "I know, Augusta," he said, his tone low, angry almost. My eyes widened, I could feel my heart beat faster, as he continued. "I know that you're not sleeping at night. I saw you last night. You were just sitting on the bed, staring at nothing. Auggie, this is getting serious. First, you're not eating, now you're not sleeping. You can get seriously hurt if you just--"

"I'm fine, Doctor," I quickly cut him off. "I just had a bit of a nightmare, but I got over it. That's why I was up. Sorry I didn't tell you, I didn't want you to worry."

He stopped, staring at me. "Are you sure? It was just a nightmare?"

"Just a nightmare."

"And you're fine now?"

"Fantastic," I smiled, hoping that hearing the old word he used to say all the time would make him feel better and worry less. It did.

A smile lit up on his face, just as Rose walked into the room. "Hey," she yawned, probably still sleepy from just waking up. "What's up?"

"Nothing," the Doctor said. This really seemed to brighten his mood. He put the large food-thingy on a plate, handing it to Rose and I. "It's eggs. By the way, and it's good for you; try it."

I shrugged, but tried it anyway. It was actually good. I don't quite know how to describe the taste, but it was interesting. Had a weird, gooey taste to it. "Do you like it?" He asked.

"Yeah, it's good," I smiled, knowing that I'd literally burn through it. A technique I figure out that I could do, in order to get rid of any potential poisons; just burning it to ashes before consuming it, and then just act like I was eating it.

"Okay, we'd better hurry up and go, school should be starting soon," Rose announced. "Go get dressed, Auggie."

I nodded, going to guest room to get my uniform, before going back to bathroom.

As I crossed past the Doctor and Rose, I could feel his piecing brown eyes on me as I entered the room.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
Doctor's POV  
As Augusta went to the bathroom to get washed up, he vaguely began to wonder where she learned to lie so easily, almost to the point where he believed it.

Almost.

"You alright, Doctor?" Rose asked, a bit concerned.

"I think something's wrong with Auggie," he said, keeping his voice low.

Rose gave him a weird look, "What? I thought she's been getting better. She's been eating more and I don't hear her having nightmares anymore."

"She lied," he frowned. "I don't think she's really eating it; there was smoke coming from the end of her mouth."

"Wait, you mean, she's just burning the food?" Rose rose an eyebrow and he nodded. "She hasn't been eating anything?"

"Well, she did eat Jackie's cooking. And, yesterday, her hands were greasy from eating something oily at the school."

"So, she was force fed food?"

He shrugged, "I dunno. I'll watch her more closely and try and figure out what's been going on."

"You already tried that," Rose spoke up. "Maybe she just needs her space. She's growing up, Doctor. Maybe she just needs some time to sort out everything that's been happening to her."

"Leaving her alone is what made her this way," he frowned.

"Well, she obviously isn't liking how you keep demanding to know everything about her," Rose argued. "She's growing up, Doctor. Maybe, you're just not ready to let go quite yet."  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
Augusta's POV  
School was quite uneventful. Isobel kept pestering me, trying to figure out what happened and why I wasn't in any of the other classes. I told her that I wasn't feeling well, and went home. Luckily, she believed it, and decided to talk about something else.

"So, I know you haven't been here long, but... What do you think of Nathaniel?"

"Uh... Which one is Nathaniel again?" I frowned, she had introduced me to someone named Nathaniel earlier, but I forgot who he looked like."

"He's the blonde with a blue hat," she answered, pointing to the boy a few rows in front of us. Now, I remembered. He had blonde hair and silvery gray eyes. He was also a bit shy, and stuttered a lot when we talked to him.

"I don't know, what am I supposed to think?" I frowned.

"Well, don't you think he's cute?" I blinked.

"Wh-what?"

"What do you think of him?" She repeated, a mischievous smirk on her face. "Do you like him?"

"I, uh, I dunno. I just me-met him, how would I, uh, know," I stammered. "Why?"

"Because," she leaned back in her chair, only two of four legs touching the ground.

I gave her a weird look, "That's not a good explanation."

"It's a perfectly good explanation," she smiled. "You like him, he obviously likes you, so now you can go date."

"Date?" I can't help but think what that could possibly mean.

She gives me an odd look, one of the many that she does, "You don't know what dating is?"

"U-Uh, should I?"

"Geez, what happened to you? Did you live under a rock or something?" She said, her tone is teasing but I don't quite understand what she means by that.

"Uh--"

"Look, dating is when two people like each other so much that they want to go out and do fun things with one another. After a while, the two people might get married, and during that time, they probably had sex, so they'll have babies too."

Half of the words that she used is foreign to me. As I opened my mouth to ask her about it, someone comes from behind us, pushing past her chair, that was balancing on two legs.

She gasps as she falls to the ground, but I quickly pull her hand with the intent to catch her, only to have her weight and mine's drag us both to the ground.

Isobel hits the ground with a hard thump, catching the attention of everyone in the room. I am standing over her, my arms by her sides, my legs straddling her waist.

Isobel stares at me, a multitude of emotions flashes across her face. The room is a deadly silent, nobody dared to breath. Finally, her face, which had paled from the fall, grew a bright red.

I stare at her wide eyed, "I-I-I'm so sorry," I stammer, scrambling to get away. I feel my cheeks warm up and my finger tingle, begging for my abilities to be released with my embarrassment.

"Ms. Smith!" The older voice of a woman rang out in the classroom, and I jumped. "Headmaster's office! Now!"

I looked at the ground, but got up anyway. Isobel stared at me, her deep green eyes wide, as I quickly left the room, the door closing with a small slam behind me.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
"Assaulting one of the other students?" The Doctor asked. I could feel his eyes burning into my skull. My eyes were fixed on the shiny black shoes Rose made me wear this morning.

"Yes, and I am sure you can see how this is an issue," the Headmaster, Mr. Finch, said. His voice was deep, and sent shivers down my spine.

"Well, I'm sure this is some kind of misunderstanding," the Doctor said, leaning forward. "This just does not sound like something Augusta would do."

"Mr. Smith -- John, was it? Augusta was found straddling another one of the female students earlier. Whether it was an accident or not, it isn't something we can look past; she'll have to be suspended."

"What!?" The Doctor shouted. I flinched at his anger.

"But," Mr. Finch continued, "I can make it an in-school suspension and have her spend her class time in the ISS room." He paused, "It's either that or out of school suspension, which could also result in her being behind in school work and most likely have to graduate later."

The Doctor sighed, and suddenly the phone rang. Mr. Finch didn't take more than a second swiping it up, and answering it. "If you will excuse me," he said, going into one of the back rooms and closing the door, leaving us alone.

"Augusta--" the Doctor began, but I had already cut him off with my rambling.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! She fell back and I tried to catch her, but then we both fell and we were on the floor and was on top of her! I didn't touch her or anything, but we didn't do anything either! I didn't even move! I just stared at her! Oh, no, what if she hates me!? Does she hate me? Will she hate me?!" I covered my face in my hands, my cheeks heating again, "What if she doesn't want to talk to me anymore?! What do I even SAY to her!? What if she doesn't like me; what if she wants to hurt me now?! What--"

"Auggie!" The Doctor cut me off, and I stared at him, my eyes wide. "You'll be fine. If it really was an accident then it isn't an issue."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah, accidents happen," he shrugged.

"So... I'm not in trouble?" I asked, very hesitantly.

He gave me a warm smile, messing up my hair, "Course you aren't. I know you didn't purposefully wanna fall on top of her. But, we still need you in the school, so you'll probably be in In School Suspension for the next few days.

I gave him a smile, showing that I was happy that I wasn't in any major trouble. Seconds later, Headmaster Finch came out of the back room as well.

"Like I was saying," he continued. "She can either be the ISS room for the next two days or out of school for the next two days."

"It would be much better for her to be in school, if she is suspended," the Doctor said with an obviously fake sigh. "At least she could get class work done. Is that all?"

"Yes," a hint of a smirk found its way on Headmaster Finch's impassive face, but it quickly disappeared. If I didn't know better, then I'd say it was just a trick of the light. "Although you have to fill out a paper for it," he turned behind him, grabbing a murky yellow-ish paper, passing it to the Doctor, along with a pen.

The Doctor quickly signed it, and slid it back over, and Headmaster Finch stood up, "I will escort Ms. Smith to the ISS room now. You may head back to your class."

The Doctor nodded, exiting the room, but not before giving me a small wave, that hopefully Mr. Finch didn't notice.

Keeping a firm hand on my shoulder, Mr. Finch lead me to the supposed ISS room. It was a long, awkward walk with an unbroken silence. Mr. Finch didn't utter a single word, only leaving a smirk on his face that sent shivers down my spine. I wondered if I we could walk any faster than the slow pace we were going right now.

After what seemed like an eternity, we made it to a room with a wooden door that was closed. On the door was a small rectangular window that made it look barred.

For some reason, I felt like I was getting sent back to my cell back with th--

No. Stop. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. You're not there anymore.

Shaking the fear out of my head, I went through the door that Mr. Finch had opened for me. Inside, the room was a starch white, not painted like the others. It was also very small, too small.

In what I assumed was the front of the room stood a woman, who had a hand pudgy hand on her big hips, a yellow ruler hanging limply from them. She wore a pink shirt and black dress pants. Her face was round, like a ball, and her cheeks caked with some kind of red... Powdery stuff, giving it artificial coloring. Her hair was a murky brown that also only reached to the tips of her big ears and was very stringy. Somehow, her face was formed into an internal scowl, and she glared at me.

There were several kids sitting in the classroom, writing silently. Almost all of them were boys, but there was one girl, who sat near the side, focused on what was before her. Some of the boys turned their heads to see who had just entered the room, but most of them kept their heads down, and continued to write.

"What are you waitin' for?" The woman demanded, her voice deep and raspy. "Sit down!"

Listening to the woman, I moved to one of the seats, keeping my head down. I could feel the stares of the other kids burrowing into my head and back as I sat in the uncomfortable plastic chair.

The teacher slapped several sheets of paper on the desk, and a pencil, then pointing to it with the ruler. "Finish this. No talking!" She barked, then went back to her desk.

I didn't say anything and flipped through the few math pages that I was given. After all those years of building gadgets and creating things, subjects like math and science came pretty easy to me. The Doctor would've put me in a higher class, had I not been so bad in history and reading. Well, that and because he didn't want me to stick out.

He told me that in this situation, I couldn't be fast. Just like how I suppressed my abilities, I needed to suppress my knowledge as well and act like I was in year ten.

Unfortunately, answering the problems slowly was exhausting, especially after not having gotten any sleep for the last several nights. I tried to focus my eyes on the paper in front of me, shaking my head to stay away, but the words blended together and my eyes began to slowly drift shut.

For a few seconds, everything was peaceful. The sound of pencils scrapping papers was the only thing I could hear, and it was also rather soothing.

At least until I heard a sharp whooshing sound.

My mind acted instantly as the wooden ruler collided with the desk. My eyes snapped open and my mind was froze. All I could see was the cell and the Director hovering before me with a dark smile on his face. He dragged his long, cold fingers on my cheek, "You're mine now..."

Another smack at the desk brought me away from my nightmare, "LISTEN TO ME WHEN I SPEAK!!" The woman screeched.

I didn't reply, I just stared at the woman, my hands shaking and tears welling in my eyes. No. I'm not there anymore. I'm not there anymore. Stop it! Stop thinking about it!!

"Do your work and no sleeping!" The woman ordered, moving back to her desk. I stared at the desk for several seconds, before finally taking the pencil and starting my work again. My hands were still shaking, and I saw a tear or two drop onto the page, but I was quiet, leaving myself with my paranoid thoughts.

Was he here? How did I see him? How did he even get here!? What if he was invisible again? What if he was going to hurt Rose or the Doctor? Oh my, did he hurt them already!? What if they're in trouble?! Wh-what if they're dead...?

My breathing began to increase with every question, but I refused to show it. After what seemed like decades, the bell rang, which I learned yesterday was a signal for the end of the class.

Gathering my stuff and quickly placing it on her desk, I quickly exited the small room and practically ran down the hall. I pushed past the crowds of people going to what I assumed was lunch.

As I was in the middle of the hall, I accidently tripped over what seemed like nothing, and stumbled into someone. "Ah-- oh, I-I'm sorry," I apologized looking up to see who I bumped into. "I didn't, uh, see you..." My voice trailed off to see that the person standing in front of me was none other than Isobel.

I don't know what I expected when I saw her. Maybe for her brilliant green eyes to light up like they did whenever she laughed. Maybe the kind smile she had gave me when she first spoke to me. Maybe the welcoming words that she said when I was too shy to say anything to her.

But, I certainly didn't expect the look of absolute disgust she gave me, then backing away, as if I held some kind of disease or something. "Stay away from me," Isobel spat, er kind words now hidden with anger and disgust.

"W-Wha--"

"Do you even know what you did!?" She demanded, her once kind green eyes narrowing to furious slits. "You made a joke of me! I thought you wanted to be friends, but no! You just had to go and fall on me like it was some kind of accident!"

"I-I-I-It was, I--"

"Oh, don't go stuttering now! You're pitiful, you know that?" She glared heatedly, "I don't even know why I wanted to be friends with you, of course you wanted to be friend with the popular one! So that everyone would like you! You're such an attention whore! You're so fake!!"

My jaw dropped, I couldn't even defend myself, "Wait, no! Yo-you don't understand I-I-I didn't mean to do that, I was trying to help I--"

"Save it," Isobel hissed, "That entire thing was probably staged, wasn't it? Who else was in on it? Jacob? You're trying to make me look bad!" I didn't notice the circle of people that formed around us until now. Their mouths twisted into smiles, their eyes eager for violence. A few of them even recorded it on their phones.

"I hate you!" Isobel continued. "I never wanna see you again!"

"Wait, I-Isobel, let me exp--"

"No!" A hard smack hit my cheek, as Isobel struck me. Although I've felt much worse, it made my chest hurt, even though I wasn't injured there.

Isobel didn't stop with a smack though, she jumped on me, making us both fall to the ground. She then began to pull at my hair, whilst kick and punch me. Her attacks were weak, much weaker than the Director's at least. And I, being so much stronger than she was, rightfully pushed her off me, making her hit the ground with a hard thud.

Somehow, this simple attack brought tears to her eyes, and she quickly picked herself off the ground.

"NEVER TALK TO ME, EVER AGAIN!" Isobel screamed at me, not before chucking a textbook she pulled from her bag that was on the floor at me face. Her throw was also weak, landing it at my feet, instead of my face.

Silently, I picked it up, and handing it to the girl, who was huffing and puffing. Another hateful glare made my stomach twist again. With one last hit on the arm, she ran away.

I could hear the crowd of student murmuring amongst themselves, a few of them pointing fingers at me. All of their stares burrowed into my head, making me feel smaller. I closed my eyes as panic and fear began to set in, don't do it. Don't think about it. Just go. Go. Run.

And I did. Shoving past the crowd I ran the opposite direction. I could feel my powers growing from underneath the encasing of my gloves. No! No. Don't lose control. Don't lose control!!

I finally ran into the swinging doors of the girls' bathroom, which luckily had been empty. My rapid breathing was unbearable now. I felt like I was suffocating. I moved near the wall, clutching my chest tightly. My powers only escalated, dying to be released.

I squeezed my hands into fists, now trying to control my abilities and get my breathing back to normal. I squeezed my eyes shut, I can't do it, I can't do it. It's not working! I can't I--

"Hey," I jumped, looking up. There was a girl standing in front of me. She had shoulder-length, messy black hair and wore the standard uniform, except she had shorts instead of a skirt. Her eyes were a dark brown too, and were also very small. So was her mouth and her nose.

Unlike Isobel, her face was full of concern, "Are you okay?"

I shook my head, not answering her. Don't lose control. Contain it. Contain it.

"Hey, aren't you that girl that was fighting Isobel a second ago?" No response, "The teachers are looking everywhere for you. Especially that sub, Mr. Smith. He was really angry--" more tears came to my eyes. The Doctor was mad at me! Of course he was, I attacked another student! He's probably gonna hate me too!

"Hey, you were in the ISS room, right?" The girl continued. She moved to sit against the wall beside me. I shifted away, wanting to get my abilities under control first. I don't want to hurt anyone else. "Yeah, you were. I saw you. Ms. Millary got so angry at you, man..." She glanced over at me, "Are you gonna say anything?"

It was silent for a few seconds, "... S-Sorry, I... Wh-why are you ta-talking to me?" I hated the stutter in my voice, but I couldn't help it.

She shrugged, "Isobel's a bitch and when something doesn't go her way, she tries to blame literally every other person but herself," she paused. "I'm Jesse, by the way. Jesse Lee."

"Augusta Smith."

"Any relation to that new sub?" Jesse asked in somewhat of a joking way, but I nodded.

"He's a friend," I answered.

Jesse nodded. "Oh, okay." Jesse paused, "Hey, can I tell you something?" I nodded, so Jesse continued, rubbing her neck and laughing. "I'm not a girl, or a boy."

I nodded, after travelling with the Doctor, I met alot of people who were neither boy nor girl. The Doctor said that they were a they. I personally found it very interesting how you could be neither or both.

"You cool with that?" I gave Jesse a smile, and nodded.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Jesse sighed, "People aren't usually as accepting to stuff like that," they admitted. "Nice to know that someone actually agrees with it."

"Why shouldn't I? That's awesome!" Somehow, I managed to smile at Jesse, who seemed to brighten up significantly.

"Thanks," they smiled, "I'd better go to lunch then. Same time tomorrow?" I chuckled, but nodded. They stood up, holding their hand out to help me up as well, but in fear of accidentally hurting them, I just got up on my own, but gave them a grateful smile anyway.

Jesse soon left after that, sending me a two fingered sign with a small wave over their shoulder before leaving.

As I began to leave too, I realized that I didn't feel like I couldn't breath anymore. I felt... Fine.

I frowned, what did Jesse do?  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
As I walked down the hall to the cafeteria, I met up with the one and only Doctor, who was at the other end of the hall. After looking at me for a few seconds, he bolted my way, his sneakers smacking the ground with every step.

At first, I contemplated on whether or not to run, but by the time I came to an agreement, he was already face to face with me, an angry expression displayed openly. "Why are all the students talking about you and Isobel getting in a fight!?" He demanded, his arms crossed angrily.

I shrank away, looking at the floor, "Sh-she, uh, she doesn't quite li-like me now..." I murmured, but he was able to hear plenty.

"Did your--"

"No. No, got it mostly under control," I assured.

He nodded, "I heard that you pushed her, but I'm guessing that she did all of... That to you too."

"Yeah, uh..." I frowned, "S-sorry, I didn't want to hurt her, I really didn't, but I needed to get her off of me. I didn't want to lose control."

"It's okay, it was self defense. Just don't do anything like that again," the Doctor advised. He sighed, rubbing his face, "C'mon. Let's go to lunch."

I nodded, following the Doctor as we headed to the cafeteria.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
If I had to give the cafeteria one word it describe it, it'd be loud. Very, very loud.

Students sat at the table, talking amongst their friends. We cut in-between these tables, and their idle chatter stopped, staring at me. A few of them even point, giggling with their friends.

An unknown feeling settled in my stomach, and I looked away, slowly following the Doctor, who didn't seem to mind the whispers.

When we sat down near the back to eat, Rose came over, a rag in her hand and a frown on her face. She glared at the Doctor, much like she had when we were in the food line, and she served him the white mushy stuff.

"Two days," she grumbled, but the Doctor gave her a teasing smile.

"Sorry, could you just--" he pointed to a spot on the table. "There's a bit of gravy." Rose glared at him for comment, wiping at the table, "No, no," the Doctor frowned, pointing elsewhere. "Just there."

She gave the table a quick swipe and continued talking, "Two days, we've been here."

"Blame your boyfriend, he's the one who put us onto this," The Doctor shrugged. "And he was right. Boy in class this morning -- got a knowledge way beyond planet Earth. And, we still have no clue where Auggie went yesterday."

"You eating those chips?" She asked, pointing to the chips the Doctor was eating. I frowned, looking at the food in front of me as well. Why did those chips look familiar?

"Yeah, they're a bit... different." Rose took one from his bowl.

"I think they're gorgeous," she smiled, eating a few more and sitting down beside me. "Wish I had school dinners like this."

"It's very well behaved, this place," the Doctor noted, looking around. Rose nodded, her mouth full of the chips. "I thought there'd be happy-slapping hoodies. Happy-slapping hoodies with ASBOs. Happy-slapping hoodies with ASBOs and ringtones," now," he looked at Rose. "Yeah? Yeah? Oh, yeah! Don't tell me I don't fit in."

She rolled her eyes, "How about you, Auggie? Do you like the chips?"

I look down at my food, noticing I hadn't eaten yet, "O-Oh, uh, yeah," I nodded, putting a few in my mouth, but burning it instantly. I smiled with my act, not noticing how closely the Doctor was watching me.

"Do you like it?" I shrugged.

"Uh, they're interesting..." I commented. "Not as good as the ones you bought me that one time."

Rose grinned, messing up my hair. I heard the footsteps of someone else approach and quickly turned around. She was a woman, she wore the same outfit as Rose, and had scowl on her face. Her hair was tied into a some kind of net, just like Rose's.

"You are not permitted to leave your station during a sitting!" She scolded, and Rose stood up.

"I was just talking to this teacher," she argued.

The Doctor gave the woman a wave, "Hello!"

"He doesn't like the chips," Rose continued.

The woman looked shocked, as if mad that someone had insulted the cooking. "The menu has been specifically designed by the headmaster to improve concentration and performance," the woman hissed, glaring at all of us. "Now, get back to work."

Rose glared at the Doctor, arguing with him over something that I didn't care to listen to. I saw one of the teachers come over, Mr. Wagner, I think his name was. He turns to me and this other girl, "Augusta. Melissa. You'll be joining my class for the next period. Milo's failed me, so it's time we moved you up to the top class," he turned to the the boy beside him, who was pulling out a plastic container. "Kenny, not eating the chips?" I moved to get up and follow Mr. Wagner, along with the girl behind me.

"I-I'm not allowed," Kenny explained.

"If you don't mind me asking," the Doctor spoke up. "Where are you taking the students?"

"Extra classes," Mr. Wagner scowled, sending shivers down my spine. Why was he so intimidating? "Luke. Extra class. Now," he growled, and the young boy stood up immediately, and we all followed the teacher out.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
I glanced around as everyone sat at the computers. Why did this look familiar?

"I'd like you all to put your headphones on now, please," Mr. Wagner instructed as I put on the black firm headphones. "Now, children, the things you will see."

As soon as the codes started, my mind turned on like a flip, and my fingers flew across the board. A hand touches my shoulder, but I didn't react. I didn't jump, or move, or flinch. I kept typing.

This entire code was a mystery, one of the greatest mysteries that I've seen in a long time. I wanted to unravel it, I needed to unravel it.

I memorized the entire code in minutes and piece by piece I began to decode it. I had only scratched the surface of the code last time I was here, but now... Now, I could do it.

"Good," Mr. Wagner's voice said. He leaned close to my body, his hot breath going down my neck. I involuntarily shivered, "Very good... You humans, so easy to manipulate. To control," he chuckled huskily. "So weak. So undefended. So... Delicious."

My hands began to shake as I felt the older man trace his fingers down my cheek, then sticking it in his mouth. "Ooo... You taste interesting. Different." Much to my surprise, a rough, long, forked tongue slid down the side of my face.

I froze, my hands stopping. Mr. Wagner had stopped as well. Finally, he spoke, "What are you? You're not human, are you?" He grabbed my face, tearing my face away from the computer screen to look into his eyes. My eyes were wide in fear. What was he doing? I needed to finish!

"What the hell are you!?" He demanded. His grip tightened and I whimpered. He scoffed, letting go. "Finish."  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
When the bell finally rang, we all stood up. For some reason, I felt much better than I did yesterday. I glanced out the window, it wasn't as dark as it was last time. A few students were in the hallways, hanging around or talking to their friends.

I walked silently down to the front of the school where I found Mickey, Rose, and the Doctor. "Hey kiddo," Rose smiled, "How was class?"

"Fine," I shrugged. "A bit boring, really."

"Yeah, well, that's school for ya," she smirked. "It's all boring until you get to college. Then it's really boring," she chuckled, "At least it's not American schooling."

Somehow, this inside joke made Mickey and the Doctor laugh a bit with her. "Let's head back to Rose's house," the Doctor suggested. "We've got a long night ahead of us."  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
Later that night, Rose, The Doctor, Mickey, and I were breaking into the school. We stood in the lower hallway, " Oh, it's weird seeing school at night," Rose muttered, coming through the same window that we did. "It just feels wrong. When I was a kid, I used to think all the teachers slept in school."

I rose an eyebrow, "Where do the teachers sleep?" I asked curiously.

Rose laughed, "They go home!" I gave her a weird look, "I know, crazy, isn't it!"

"No, I mean... Why wouldn't they go home?" I asked. "Why would they sleep in the school in the first place?"

Rose opened her mouth to argue, but her words died in her throat. "I... I guess you're right," she laughed, ending our conversation.

"All right, team," the Doctor said, but immediately cringed. "Oh, I hate people who say team. Er, gang. Er, comrades. Anyway, Rose, go to the kitchen. Get a sample of that oil. Mickey, the new staff are all Maths teachers. Go and check out the Maths department. Auggie, I want you to go to the IT department. Something seemed a little off about Mr. Wagner, I want you to look at it. I'm going to look in Finch's office. Be back here in ten minutes." Then, the Doctor leaves, heading down to Mr. Finch's office.

I follow behind the Doctor, turning down the hall to the quite familiar classroom door.

Unlike this morning, the classroom was empty. The computers shut down for business. I'm surprised that he door wasn't locked, actually. Maybe Mr. Wagner forgot?

I slid into the plastic seats of one of the computers, easily turning the device on. The computer program from earlier immediately turns on. The same one from yesterday and this morning. Now, the pieces begin to click. Mr. Wagner must've noticed that I was doing so well with the computer so he pushed me to finish, at least to an extent. The Doctor had said that if I were to be pushed like that again, the mental boundaries that he took so long to set up would be practically destroyed.

Now, today was different. Today, I didn't eat those weird fries that Mr. Wagner gave me the first day, so I had more control over what was going on. What really interested me was the computer program.

What was this thing about? I know it's some kind of code, but for what? Why? The coding was interesting too, certainly different. Certainly a challenge. Why would these aliens need this code cracked so badly? What lied beyond the code? What would it reveal? And, if it were so important to have children like me and the rest of the school crack it, then at what cost would be needed in order to unravel said code.

I gritted my teeth, I should just memorize or write down the entire code. So that once I get back to the TARDIS, I can figure out what it is truly for.

And so up did. Memorizing the entire code took a bit of effort — actually, it took a lot of effort — but eventually, I was able to get it all done. I also snatched a sheet of paper off of Mr. Wagner's desk too, scribbling down the numbers and symbols just in case.

I was just in time too, because I heard a very high pitched scream, and I shot up in the chair. Rose!?

I ran out of the room and down he hall, the scream came from the kitchen. Instead of finding a shocked Rose, I found Mickey with a terrified and embarrassed expression on his face. The Doctor was here as well, along with a woman who I didn't recognize. She had brown hair and ivory green eyes, that had a piecing look of intelligence in them. She almost reminder me of Rose.

I turned my attention to the Doctor. Maybe he heard the scream and got worried too? "Nine, maybe ten years old. I'm seeing pigtails, frilly skirt," he teased Mickey.

"Hello, can we focus?" Rose asked, interrupting the two men. "Does anyone notice anything strange about this? Rats in school?" 

"Well, obviously they use them in Biology lessons," the brown haired lady said. "They dissect them. Or maybe you haven't reached that bit yet. How old are you?" I quirked an eyebrow at the remark. She's mean..

Rose seemed just as angry with this and scowled at the woman. Did something happen when I wasn't here? Why were they both so angry? Who is his woman anyway? Excuse me, no one dissects rats in school anymore," Rose sneered. "They haven't done that for years. Where are you from, the dark ages?"

I looked to the Doctor, stepping away from the two. They looked ready to start a fight and I really didn't want to be caught up in that.

The Doctor must've noticed how hostile the two were being towards each other and cut in before anything serious happened. "Anyway, moving on," he said, breaking news the two up. "Everything started when Mister Finch arrived. We should go and check his office."  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
For the entire walk to Mr. Finch's office, I felt uncomfortable. Rose and the lady, who introduced herself as Ms. Sarah Jane Smith, kept arguing the entire way. I didn't like it at all. I don't know exactly why they were arguing, nobody was hurt, nobody did anything that was potentially dangerous, they were just... Mad!

It didn't feel right. Rose was never mad. Well, except for that one time when I was cooking, and accidentally melted one of the metal pans because I turned the heat up too high. And then added my own heat to it because it wasn't working. But that was just one time! And she only sent me to my room after making me clean it up! Now, she was mad at the lady, and she did absolutely nothing!

My eyes widened, what if she got mad at me for doing nothing? I don't want her to be mad! I... I just want her, and the Doctor, to be happy? Why can't they just stay happy?

"Auggie?" The Doctor called, pulling me from my distressingly stressful thoughts. I looked up at him. He was still taller than me. I wanna be as tall as he is...

"Yes?" I answered.

"You okay there? You look a scared."

"Oh, no. I'm...  I'm fine," I smiled at the Doctor but the hesitance in my voice was evident, and he didn't believe it.

"Auggie—"

"No, really Doctor, I'm fine. I was just thinking."

"About what?"

I looked at the ground, "It's nothing," I shrugged carelessly. "Not important." I forced another smile at the Doctor as we neared Mr. Finch'a office.

The Doctor went to sonic the door opened. "Maybe those rats were food," the Doctor suddenly said, and the Rose gave him a strange look.

"Food for what?" He shrugged, opening the door. I looked inside the dark room, and the Doctor flicked on the light switch. I gasped at what was inside, "Rose, you know you used to think all the teachers slept in the school?" He didn't give her a chance to answer, "Well, they do."

Hanging from the ceiling of the room are black animals. They don't move when we open the door. Instead, I hear snores coming from them. They're sleeping...

I can only stare at the animals... Things. Whatever they were. Mr. Finch and Mr. Wagner's familiar scent reaches my nose. They're both aliens! What are they? Are... Are those wings? They have wings! Interesting! They must not be friendly, I assume.

Finding out that Mr. Wagner and Mr. Finch were aliens only made me grow more curious, especially with that code. What even was that code for? Why would Mr. Finch and Mr. Wagner need it? What was so significant about it? What did it--

Someone pulled on my arm, clamping a hand over my mouth, and dragged me out of the room. Reacting quickly, heat instantly rose on my body and I jumped away, my eyes wide with fear. No, no, no! Stop! Don't--

"Sorry, dear," Sarah Jane apologized. She had been the one to drag me out, the Doctor closing the door behind her. "We just really don't want those things woken up."

"I... I... I..." I stammered, trying to focus my thoughts. It's okay. He's not here. Stop getting so scared. You're fine! You're fine!!

"Are you okay?" She asked, concerned. "You look a little scared," she reached out a hand to touch my shoulder, but I quickly moved away, crossing my arms securely over my chest.

"N–No! Do–Don't touch me!" I exclaimed, Mf the Doctor quickly turned around.

"Augg—" he stopped, noticing the haunted look on my face. "Augusta. Calm down," he ordered. "Take deep breaths. Remember how we do it? In... Out. Follow my breathing," he moved his hand up and down to mimic his breathing pattern.

I looked at him, fear lingering in my eyes, but I stopped, following his instructions. In. Out. In. Out. "Are you okay?" He asked, I nodded not trusting myself to talk. "Good..."

Sarah Jane merely stared at me, "What was that!?"

"Anxiety attack," the Doctor explained as I tried to regain my breath. "She'll be okay."

I heard movement inside Mr. Finch's office and gasped, "W–We need to go," I said, "Now."

The Doctor listened to me instantly, takin my hand and running down the hall, with Sarah Jane following behind us.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
After my mini attack, the Doctor called for Jackie to take me home immediately, "I'm fine, Doctor!" I argued with him. Jackie had already arrived, borrowing a friend's car and was more than willing to drive me home.

"I just wanna be sure," he said.

"I can help! Let me come, please!" I begged. As much as I liked Jackie, I didn't want to be there by myself again. I wanted to be with him and Rose!

"You'll be fine, love," Jackie encouraged. "'Sides, it's getting late and you've got school tomorrow! It's time for bed anyway." I sighed. Against the two adults , arguing would be useless. They weren't budging, which meant I was staying home.

I sighed again, defeatedly going to the small car with Jackie. "I'll see you tomorrow, Auggie," the Doctor promised. I could only nod, as I sat in the back seat of the car, and Jackie started the engine.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
The car ride back was mostly silent, except for my occasional shifting of discomfort in the small vehicle. We nearly made it to the house when suddenly, something on my person buzzed.

I jumped, going down to my jacket pocket and pulling out the flip phone that Rose and the Doctor gave me. I... Forgot I had this...

I opened it up to see there was one new message. I didn't have much practice with the device, Rose only showed me the basic mechanics, and I was much more interested in taking it apart than actually using it. Rose refused to allow me to do that though, claiming for it to be a 'waste of money'.

I sighed at the thought, and pressed the button that I remembered that would let me view the unread text message. I expected it to be from Rose or the Doctor, or maybe even Mickey, but instead it was from someone who was named, 'Friend, Isobel'.

I frowned, Isobel? Why was Isobel contacting me? I remember I let her put her number in my phone but after what... Happened, I never though that she would actually use it.

I shrugged, clicking on the button to open the text.

Friend, Isobel:

*Ur such a lil shit. I h8 you. I hope you go kys

I blinked at the screen before quickly replying.

*What does 'kys' mean?

I clicked send and almost immediately I gained a reply similar to that.

Friend, Isobel:

lol, it means kill your self, dumbass

My eyes widened at the text. What? Why would I do that? I promise the Doctor I wouldn't!

*I cannot. I already promised someone that I should not.

Friend, Isobel:

*lol, ur suicidal? U really are an attention whore

I frowned, attention whore? What does that even mean? I didn't want to ask Isobel the meaning of that word just in case I got the same negative response...

Friend, Isobel:

*U ruined everything! I was tryin 2 b ur friend, but u were 2 much of a bitch to accept it

*I want to be friends with you. It was an accident, Isobel. I did not mean to fall on you

Friend, Isobel:

*yeah right, you stupid ass whore. Do us all a favor and go jump of a fuckin bridge already.

Friend, Isobel has left this chat.

I stared at the phone screen for several seconds, why... Would she say such mean things? Why did she hate me so much? I didn't mean to do anything, I apologized. It was an accident. Why did she get so mad at me? Why... Did she me to want to hurt myself?

"You alright back there love?" Jackie I'm asked, and I glanced up at her. We stopped? We were here already? "Dozing off already? You must be really sleepy, huh? C'mon, let's get you into bed." Jackie helped me out of the car and up the steps of the building, and finally to their apartment home.

I quickly disappeared into the guest room, getting in the bed to start my act of sleeping. Jackie came in once or twice but soon retreated to her own room to sleep, leaving me fully alone.

I sat up, surrounding myself with my thoughts. Why does she hate me so much? Why did she tell me to die? Was me falling on her so bad? Why didn't she like me? I just... I just wanted to be her friend...

I moved my knees closer to my chest, am I unable to make friends? Is that why she hates me? Because she knows I'm a monster? Because I'm different? I... I don't want to be different. I wanna be normal! I want her to like me, I want everyone to like me!

I... Just want everyone to be happy.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
The next day I didn't want to go to class. I didn't want to have to sit with Isobel first period and then have to go to.the ISS room. Honestly, I just didn't want to go to Isobel. I didn't want to see that hateful glare, or that disgusted look, or how she'd say mean words that made my chest hurt. I didn't want to be around her anymore. I didn't want er to be mad, I just wanted to make her happy.

But how I would accomplish this was far beyond me. I only knew to smile, and mask my concerns. I'm didn't know how to make other people feel happy.

I frowned, thinking really hard about this. I remembered that yesterday, Isobel explained what dating was, or at least the vague version of it. She had that we had to like each other, then get married, then do sex and somehow create babies.

Then, that one time, I remembered Jackie and Rose's dad getting married. We had to do all that? With everybody and the decorations and stuff? Maybe I can just skip the married part and just go to the sex part and do that. Then, we could make up!

I grinned at my great plan. All I need to do was figure out what sex was, then I could just... Do it! It shouldn't be hard, and I know just who to ask about it.

I tapped the Doctor on the arm as he drank his dark drink that smelled weird. He once called it coffee, and even let me try it. It tasted gross, and I definitely didn't like it, and then he laughed.

The Doctor was skimming through a large grey paper, reading through it. He seemed a but preoccupied, but he always listened whenever I asked a question. As he took a sip of his coffee, and looked at me, giving me his attention.

"Doctor, what's sex?"

Coffee spewed everywhere out of the Doctor's mouth. I instantly jumped back, raising a hand to catch all the water particles in the air. Then, the Doctor began to choke and coughed heavily, as if something was caught in his throat. I could only stare at him in shock as Rose ran over, gently patting his back.

It took several minutes to get the Doctor to stop coughing, and even then when he looked at me, he shook his head, muttering something even I couldn't understand in his hands. "What happened?" Rose asked, turning to me because the Doctor was stressfully rubbing his temples.

"I asked what sex and the he did that!" I exclaimed, very worried. What if I said the thing wrong? Was he mad at me now!?

Rose stared at me in a mixture of horror and shock, before turning on her heel and trying to leave. That is, before the Doctor caught her arm. "No, don't you go anywhere! You're helping me—"

"She asked YOU not ME," Rose said, pulling her arm away and patting the Doctor on the  shoulder. "Good luck buddy." Rose laughed before leaving us.

The Doctor groaned, running a hand down his hairy face, "Wh–why would you ask that anyway? Who told you about... That?"

"Isobel did," I answered calmly. "She said that when two people liked each other, they date, then they get married and get sex. I don't want to get married because that takes too long. When Rose's mom and dad got married there were a lot of decorations and people and a guy talking on the stage... I don't have enough time to get that ready, and I have no other way of getting Isobel to like me again. S–so I thought that if we just get sex, then she would be happy again and would like me..."

The Doctor stares at me with my entire explanation. I looked down, "S–sorry, I, uh, probably sa–said something wrong, didn't I? Ne... Never mind. I'll find another way to get her to like me again..." My voice dies down with my last words and I released myself from the kitchen table. "... Sorry..."

"No, wait Auggie," the Doctor said, stopping me. I looked at him, for some reason, my eyes grew watery with tears. I fiercely wiped them away, and turned my gaze to the ground again, refusing to meet eyes with him. "Look, Auggie, you don't have to make everyone like you. I'm sorry, that's just not gonna happen. I don't know why Isobel doesn't like you, I honestly think that she's exaggerating the situation. But for you to go to extremes trying to fix that? It's unneeded. It'd be much better if you just ignored her, okay?"

"But I want her to like me! I don't want her to be mad anymore or... Or say mean things! I want her to be happy!" The Doctor sighed, before pulling me into his great big arms. He rubbed my head, as I stayed silently, unwanted tears running down my face.

"I know you want her to like you, but you can't change her opinion of you. Is she doesn't like you, then you can do all the things in the world to try and change that, but her opinion is still her own," he explained. "She will have to change her opinion of you herself. You can try to be friends with her or show her that you're a good person, that when once she's ready to be friends again, she'll know exactly who to turn to, got it?" I nodded, his explanation seemed reasonable.

He smiled at me, "Good. Now go get ready so we can leave."  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
I slowly went to my seat in the first period classroom. I could feel the glares of my classmates in the back of my head, but I ignored it.

Sliding into the plastic seat, Isobel glared at me, "Why the hell are you sitting there? Don't you have to go to detention?" She sneered.

"Ah, no. I-I finished yesterday," I answered, pulling my books on the table in order to get ready for the class. Suddenly, Isobel grabbed my arm.

"You're still wearing those stupid gloves, freak!" I blinked, trying to pull away from her, but her long manicured nails clawed into my skin, rooting her hand in place.

"D-Don't touch me," I stammered, moving my other hand to move her hand away from mines, but she only slapped it away.

"What's wrong? Are you too scared to show me your hands, freak!" Her free hand trailed up to the top of my fingers, slowly pulling off the ends of my gloves. I gasped, pulling my hand away, only to grit my teeth when her nails sunk deeper into my skin.

"Isobel, stop!" I begged. I could tell the entire class was watching us, waiting to see what would happen. Nobody tried to stop her, nobody dared try to help me. "Please, Isobel! Stop!"

"Aww, look! Now the freak's begging!" Isobel laughed, which caused the rest of the class to erupt in laughter. He narrowed her green eyes at me, "See this?" She hissed, "This is what happens when you're a bitch. You humiliated me, so now it's my turn!" She gave my glove a hard yank, and then it came off.

I gasped, my eyes going wide. I held my bare hand to my chest, "Isobel, give the glove back, now!" I hissed. I need my glove! I need my glove! I'm going to lose control!!

A smirk crossed her face, "Make me," she taunted, holding my glove in front of her with a tight grip.

I reached out to grab my glove, but she moved her arm away. My bare arm was revealed, showing all of the scars and marks that the Director and the scientists gave me. My eyes widened and I quickly covered it, but she had already seen it. Everybody had already seen it. "Wh–what was that!?" Isobel demanded, her eyes nearly as wide as mine were.

"I–I need my.... Gi–give me my glove... Please... I..." I stammered, trying to get the glove again, but she still moved away. An evil smirk was on her face. And she grabbed my arm, raising it up for all of the class to see, "Look! She cuts herself!" Isobel declared, and everyone gasped.

I felt like my heart was gonna stop. Tears filled my eyes and my powers flared. I moved away from her steely grip, trying once again to get my missing glove. I was able to snag the end of it, but she pulled harder.

She pulled it away from me, crumpling it in her hand. "What? Do you think I'm gonna just give it to you like that?" She sneered. "Beg me for it, and maybe I'll give it to you."

I glared at her, "Isobel. Give it to me." I'm don't playing games. I'm done being 'nice' and trying to be her friend.

"Or what?" She laughed, "What are you going to—" she didn't finish this sentence. I jumped at her, tackling her to the ground.

A strangled scream erupted from her throat as I punched her in the stomach, not at full force, of course. Her grip on the glove loosened, allowing me to rip it rom her hand.

I stood up, glove in hand, with her on the ground. I turned to move away, but Isobel jumped up, faster than I expected. She wrapped her arms around my neck, reaching over to steal the glove from my hand, but instead whispered into my ear. "You're stronger than I thought," she laughed, somehow taking the glove away from me. "The Director will be proud to see how his little Monster has grown."

I froze in horror, I didn't even notice when I flipped Isobel on the table in front of me, and backed away instantly. Everyone stared at me in shock as I stumbled away from her. Tears filled Isobel's eyes as she screamed in pain.

Everything was in chaos, people were screaming at me for injuring Isobel, others were gently lifting Isobel's body off the table and taking her to the nurse's office.

I broke down in all the mayhem, falling to my knees and covering my head, mumbling incoherent words that nobody bothered to listen to. The Director. She said the Director. He is coming. He is coming. He's going to get me.

Is he here? Where is he? What if he hurts me? What if he hurts Rose or the Doctor? What if he's going to kill me?

I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want—

"Augusta!" The older woman yelled. Then, she grabbed me by the arm and pulling me up. I didn't bother to do anything, no. No! No more. I don't want... I don't want to get hurt anymore. I just want to go away! I don't want to be here! I don't— I–I don't...

I don't want to be taken by him again.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
I was taken into Mr. Finch's office. This time, the Doctor wasn't here. Instead, it was just Mr. Finch and Mr. Wagner.

"Are you sure this is her?" Mr. Finch asked, as I stared at my feet. My hands still trembling and I was missing a glove. Isobel still had it.

"Yes," Mr. Wagner replied coolly. "She was able to get through the code easily. With her we're be able to break  through to the answers of the Skasis Paradigm faster than we ever had been before. Maybe a few more days and we'd be in."

I didn't care to listen to anything else they said. My mind trailed back to Isobel... She was in the infirmary, as Mr. Finch called it. She was fine. Some bruising on her stomach from where I punched her and on be back when I flipped her on the table. Somehow, she was the victim in this.

The door closing behind me brought me out of my thoughts. Mr. Finch had exited the room, leaving only Mr. Wagner, who didn't look at all happy to be in here with me. Maybe he was supposed to be watching me? What would I do? He was a teacher, Rose said I always had to listen to teachers, no matter what.

I sighed, placing a hand under my chin and looking at the ground. Maybe the Doctor would find me. What if he found out that I attacked Isobel? Would he be mad? Of course he would be mad! I nearly lost control! I nearly hurt someone! I—

I glanced down at my uniform. My bare hand clenched my knees, and fire sizzled the ends of the silky black fabric. I quickly let go, holding my hand to my chest. Shit... I burned the pants... Rose is gonna be mad...

I sighed. The room was silent, even with Mr. Wagner staring at me from across the room. A yawn betrayed my throat and I clamped a hand over my mouth to keep myself from releasing it. I leaned against my hand, my eyes drifting closed. As much as I wanted, as I needed to stay awake, my body wouldn't let me. We broke into the school last night, plus I haven't been able to sleep and then I was fighting Isobel, so I was very exhausted.

But, I was sitting in front of an alien, who could quite possibly kill me. Sleeping would not be smart to do in this situation...

Suddenly, the door opened once again, revealing Mr. Finch. "Close the school," he ordered. Mr. Wagner immediately went to the computer, typing quickly. Unrecognizable symbols flashed across the screen. Mr. Wagner makes an unearthly sound, before standing up.

"Join me," Mr. Finch ordered, "We must go to our brothers for a feast."

"What about the girl?" Mr. Wagner asked, glaring at me.

Mr. Finch pauses for a second to think. "Tie her up with the special rope," he answered. "We don't know what she is capable yet, and we can use her as a hostage if needed. She will be useful to finish of the Skasis Paradigm." Mr. Wagner nodded, going to the desk and much to my surprise, pulling out a long, thick rope.

In minutes, he has tied my hands back to the ends of the chair and gagged my mouth. I glare at the man, but he only smirks, thinking that he's won. "Come. We have wasted enough time," Mr. Finch says, opening the door, and leaving the office room, locking it behind him.

After I am sure that the two has left, I began to burn through the ropes. My eyes widened when I realized that the ropes were just fixing themselves right after I burned through it.

I gritted my teeth, trying again, only to have the same results, but this time, I notice that the ropes are constricting as I go. I moan in frustration, squirming and moving, trying whatever I can to get out, but I can't.

I'm stuck.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
About stem minutes of pure struggling, I began to smell smoke. I gasp, realizing that something was on fire.

I stop struggling a while ago, my wrists were beginning to hurt. Instead, I tried to push up in my chair, getting my chair to break. Come on stupid... Wood... Cheap chair! Just break! C'mon!!

I stop, gasping for a second, why don't I just freeze the chair, then break it.

If my hands were free, I would've hit myself in the head for being so stupid. I began to freeze the chair, trying not to think about the suffocating amount smoke seeping into the room from the edges of the door.

After what seemed like forever, I finally freed myself from the chair, and quickly shook the ropes off before they could restrict around my already sore and even a little bleeding hands.

Ripping off the gag on my mouth. I went to the door, easily unlocking the door, and going out into the hallway.

The halls were filled to the top with suffocating smoke that made my throat hurt and my eyes tear. I began to run my way through the deadly smoke until I heard sharp cries from one of the classrooms.

I quickly went to the door that created the noise, finding three kids, a few years younger than I was, stuck in the room. They must've been in year six or seven from the looks of it and they also looked really scared. There was one girl, and two boys, yet all three eyes were red and puffy and filled with unshed tears.

Quickly, I manipulated the air, removing the smoke from the hall, "Follow me," I ordered, and the three scrambled after me, clinging to my body. I quickly began to go through the halls, moving all the lethal smoke away from the smaller children and extinguishing the small flames that we came across.

Finally, we made it to one of the closed back doors. I tried the handle. It was locked. I think the smaller kids heard the locked door because the girl began to sob and cry again, mumbling something about how we were all going to die. I scoffed—which wasn't a good idea, I accidentally inhaled a lot of smoke doing so, making me sneeze and cough a little—and easily unlocked the door, freeing the four of us out of the burning school.

The four kids ran immediately to the front of the building, where I could already see that many of the groups of students were, even a few people who seemed to be parents, and several people wearing bulky yellow and red uniforms.

One of them approached me. They were a woman who had her uniform tied around her waist, "How'd you get out!?" She asked, but I didn't care to answer. At my lack of a reply, she attempted to put a bright orange blanket in my shoulders with a reflexive, silver inside.

She quickly ran off to go help someone else, so I left, going to find the Doctor.

Several minutes later, I found him being held back by quite a few of the people in uniforms. He looked angry, and I instantly took a step back, reluctant to approach him. "You need to let me go in there!" He demanded, "Augusta might still be in there, she–"

"Doctor?" I called, and he whipped his head around turning to me. His eyes looked like they were filled with worry and fear for a second, before relief and some other emotion I wasn't quite yet familiar with found their way into them. He wasted no time coming over and embracing me into a tight hug.

"Thank goodness..." He whispered into my tied back hair. "I thought that you were stuck in there!"

"I was," I replied. "But I got out, and helped a few kids who were trapped in there too. It wasn't anything I couldn't handle." I shrugged, hiding my shaking hands behind my back. I... I thought that Isobel or the Director might have taken him from me... I thought that they were going to be hurt.

"C'mon, they're letting school out early," he said, with a teasing wink.

I nodded, following as the Doctor took my hand, and began to leave, before stopping for a second. "Where's your other glove?" He asked curiously.

I froze. Isobel still had it. "I-I dropped it in the fire. Sorry... You... You don't have to touch me if you don't want to... I said, murmuring the last part to myself.

Suddenly, I felt his hands wrap around my bare one. I jumped, holding my hand to my chest. "Sorry," he instantly apologized, rubbing his cheek. "Didn't think that that would scare you."

"N-No, it's... It's okay. I just..." I bit my lips, looking the opposite direction.

"You just what?"

".., Nobody has actually touched my bare hand before. E-Except for the scientists and stuff..."

"Nobody?"

"Not when they wanted to..."

I felt the Doctor's fingers wrap around mines once again. His hand was rough, but not uncomfortable. If anything, they were soft, almost. I bet they were warm too. I didn't get chills down my back when he touch me unlike some people.

He raised my hand to his mouth and pressed his lips on it with a smile. "Has anyone done that?" He asked.

I stared at him, he... He just kissed my hand. Why? I don't understand. Why would he do that!? I gave him a strange look, "N... No... I don't... Why would you...?" My thoughts were so scrambled making it so I could barely get my words out.

He chuckled, "C'mon, let's go find Rose and the others." He took my bare—and now kissed?—hand and led me away from the people, and completely dodging my question.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
We all decided that it was best to go back to Rose's house to say goodbye to Sarah Jane. I didn't quite understand why we were going to Rose's house to say goodbye to Sarah Jane. Shouldn't we go to Sarah Jane's house?

I shrugged, filing the odd thought away as a weird 'human thing'. I didn't have a say in where we were going anyway. I just wanted to go home. I was tired. It's been a long, exhausting week, and I haven't gotten any sleep.

I could tell my body was tired too. My movements were slow, and I nearly fell asleep in the car ride to Rose's house. The only thing keeping me away was my wandering thoughts.

For some reason, I wanted to stay here. I wanted to go to school. I wanted to make friends with Jesse. I wanted to learn more about... Humans and what the do. I... I wanted to be normal. But, most of all, I wanted to make sure Isobel, who somehow knew about the Director, wasn't going to harm anyone. I felt like she was my responsibility, and I needed to make sure that everyone was safe because of it.

This obviously brought issues. What would the Doctor say? Would he let me go? Does he trust me enough to be by myself, if not with Jackie? What if he says no? What if he says yes!? What do I do? How do I tell him?

Will he... Hate me for wanted to go?

I think the Doctor noticed this as well, because as soon as we got home, he immediately pulled me to the side, away from the others. Rose, Mickey, and Sarah Jane went to go inside while the two of us sat on the front steps. Similarly to what we did on Christmas, actually. "Are you okay?" He asked, worryingly.

"Hmm? Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," I nodded, now frowning at him. "Why wouldn't I be?"

He scratched the side of his cheek, "You just seem a little out of it lately. Do you wanna go lie down?"

"No!" I immediately protested, and he rose an eyebrow. I looked down, away from the Doctor. "I-I mean, no. I'm fine."

"Did something happen? Is Isobel bothering you again?"

"No, no. It's not that it's just..." I took a deep breath. Maybe it would be easier to just say it instead of waiting. "I... Want to stay here."

The Doctor stared at me in shock for what seemed like forever. I looked away, what did I do!? What did I do!? Maybe I shouldn't have told him! I should have just kept my mouth shut! He's still not saying anything. Oh god, did I break him!? Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, n—

"Where's this coming from all of a sudden?" He asked, interrupting my panicked thoughts.

"We-Well, I just... I wanted to go to school more. I really liked it. It was... Uhm, fun. I-I also wanted to make more friends. Not that I don't want to not be with you, I love being with you, I just... Wanna try something new?" I rubbed the back of my beck. Why was it so hard to talk to him all of a sudden!? Why did it hurt to say this? Should I really leave? Maybe I should just stay and—

"Okay." I blinked. Wait. What?

"What?"

"I said okay. If you want to stay here with Jackie for a while, I'm fine with it," he shrugged.  "You have to behave. Don't do anything bad, or else I'm coming back," he said sternly. My eyes widened, I gaped at I him.

"R-Really?! I can stay!?"

"Of course," he smiled. "Auggie, you're growing up now, and turning into a beautiful woman. I want you to explore things for yourself. If that means that you want to stay here and so that, then I am one-hundred percent supportive. But, like I said, best behavior. That means that you have to look out for yourself. Of course, Jackie will be here if you need anything, but if anything, anything happens, you have to call us. Got it?"

I nodded, "Yes! I will!"

He smiled even wider, "Good." He messed up my hair with his hand, "It's a bit surprising to see you grow up so fast." He laughed, "It seems like only yesterday that we found you... Now look at you. Growing up faster than I can see..."

"A lot of things happened over the past year," I agreed. A smile found its way on my face, "Are you sure Jackie will let me stay here?"

"Course," he grinned. "It's Jackie, she'll spoil you rotten!"

My eyes widened, "Rotten!?"

The Doctor gave anther loud laugh, "It's a metaphor," he assured. "It means that she'll buy you things and keep you company. Personally, I think that last part is the other way around, don't tell Jackie I said that."

I chuckled, and the front door opened, "Hey you two!" Rose called and I turned around to see her. "Whatcha standing around for? Mum made dinner, c'mon." Rose waved us inside, and the Doctor stood up.

"You heard her," he grinned. "Let's go eat!" He held out a hand to help me up, at which I almost took with my gloved hand before stopping. Them, I switched hands, and let him help me up. He beamed at me as we walked inside, greeted by laughter, large smiles, and food.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
Later that night, I sat up on the bed per usual. My stomach hurt a little from eating—actually eating—and my thoughts clouded by exhaustion.

Moonlight streamed through the window, making the sky look very... What did the Doctor say it was again? Pretty?

I quietly moved off the bed, and to the window, sitting on the rather comfy bedside chair, and staring outside longingly. I could see the stars, but I couldn't see them as clearly as I could usually. Like how I could in the TARDIS or on Bellatrix, a planet we visited a few times, but not very often.

The moon was clear and round, making it a very bright silver. The clouds were dark and made the sky look foggy. A few would overlap the sky occasionally, but they would clear just as easily as well.

"You should be sleeping," a voice spoke up from behind me. I jumped, turning around. The Doctor leaned against the wall, staring at me. His arms were crossed over his chest.

"I... I had a nightmare," I lied, "It woke me up."

"Really? You're still going to lie?" He said, sounding a bit angry. "Auggie, why didn't you tell me that you weren't sleeping? You didn't have to lie, not to me!" I looked down, not meeting his eyes, "Auggie, why aren't you sleeping? You can tell me."

"I... I..." I stammered, shrinking in my chair. "I... Kept having nightmares... R-really bad nightmares... I didn't want to have them anyone, so I didn't sleep..."

The Doctor's gaze softened, even in the dark room I could see his soft, comforting smile. It made my chest hurt. I didn't like it. "Auggie, if you were having nightmares, you could've told me. I could've helped."

"How?" I demanded, tears of frustration growing in my eyes. "How are you going to keep him away?"

"I'll stay here with you, and chase them away."

I ruffled my eyebrows in confusion, "That's not possible."

"It's not possible if you believe that it isn't," he countered.

I huffed, "Doctor. I don't want to sleep. Every time I close my eyes, he's there. I don't want him to be there anymore. If-If I don't sleep, then he won't be there, right? If I keep my eyes open, if I don't... Don't close my eyes, he won't come, right?" I took a shuddering breath, "I don't want him to come anymore, I don't want to see him anymore! I-I don't want to be hurt anymore!"

I closed my eyes in a feeble attempt to keep the tears from spilling from them. "I'm so scared, Doctor. I don't want to be scared, but he makes me scared. I... I'll look at someone, Mickey, Jackie, Rose, or even you, and sometimes, I'll see him. I'll see him hurting you guys! Or... Or I'll see him making me hurt you... I... I..." I couldn't speak anymore. I covered a hand over my mouth, thinking back to the horrifying dreams.

Were they dreams? How was I sure? How would I know? What if none of those... Scenes were dream? What if they ere memories? Oh... Oh no, what if I really did hurt them!?

What if they were dead...? Be-Be cause of me...

I fell back, luckily landing in the chair. My hands covering my face, as if that would help from the terrifying images burned behind my eyelids. The dismantled, mutilated bodies that the Director would shove in my face. The blood, oh the blood, that soaked my—our hands. The screams that pierced my ears, making me want to go deaf.

And then the worst part. Waking up. Realizing that it was all a dream and that he was still out there, waiting to kill me. To kill everyone.

And he would never, EVER stop.

"Augusta," the Doctor said seriously. He was now crouched in front of me, his dark eyes serious again. "Remember what to do? Copy my breathing. One... Two... Three... In," he breathed in, and I shakily copied him after a hesitating second. "Out. Three... Two... One..." He slowly let the breath of air out, and I did the same. Then, he repeated the process, again and again until my breathing had returned to its normal speed.

I wiped a tear from my eyes, and looked down. "I-I-I'm sorry... I'll g-go to sleep now..." I murmured, heading to the bed, but he gently grabbed my hand, pulling me towards him.

"Earth is a beautiful planet," he said, looking out the window. Much like I had not too long ago. "So much life, so much energy and potential. That's one of the reasons I love being here. Well, that and they have the best chips." He smiled at me, and I chuckled at his joke, looking at the floor. "Humans like you and Rose... Brilliant. I'm lucky to be able to meet people like you."

... Do... Do you ever think about what would happen if you didn't meet us?" I asked, my voice small, slightly hesitant. Why did I just ask that!? Was he mad at me for asking that kind of question?!

"Yeah, I do," he admitted. "Rose would still be in some boring job, and that's no fun, isn't it?" He said, nudging my shoulder. I laughed, "And you..." He paused, "What did you do? Before you met us?"

"Oh. Uh... I lived with the Johnson's, I think," I frowned, it was so long ago. "I-I forget why they kicked me out. But, then I wandered around and came across a light in the wall and then... I was here."

He chuckled, "That's strange. What kind of light?"

I shrugged, "I don't know. It's all kind of blurry, really. I don't remember how I got here, I just... Did."

The Doctor seemed to accept this, and began talking about something else. He talked about his and Rose's first date and how they met exactly. He even talked about his previous adventures, with Sarah Jane or other people in his past lives. I listened to him silently as the Doctor went on and on about his adventures.

"Auggie, are you happy?" He asked suddenly.

I gave him a weird look. Nearly two hours has past, it's probably one or two in the morning right now, and he was asking me if I was... Happy?

"Yes...?" I answered, although it sounded more like a question. "Of course I'm happy. I'm not with the Director. I'm not being... Hurt. I'm with you and Rose and I get to be... Free and-and enjoy myself. Why... Why wouldn't I be?"

"You've just seemed more... Sad lately, Auggie," the Doctor admitted dutifully. "How do you feel? Truly, how do you feel?"

"What do you mean?"

He signed, running a hand through his hair. "I mean after we leave the room. After you stop... Fake smiling. After you tell us that you're fine when you obviously aren't. Do you feel happy?"

I looked at the ground, soaking in his words. "I'm... No. I-I don't. I'm sorry, I can't help it, I just... I can't feel... Happy. I tried, I really did, but I can't do it. Yeah, sometimes, I feel happy, like when we're talking and you make me laugh, or Rose does something funny, or-or were all laughing. Then, I'm happy, at least a little, but I... Just can't stay happy. Don't know what's wrong with me, but can't do it... I-I just can't, I'm... Sorry."

"Wen we leave the room, how do you feel?" He asked.

I froze for a few seconds, then looked at him dead in the eyes. My eyes were voided of any emotion. My face, completely blank. I felt like an entirely different person. Someone who didn't know how to feel, so just didn't feel anything. Someone who felt alone, even through she had people surrounding her. Someone who didn't know how to be happy when no one else was watching.

I felt... Empty.

The Doctor wrapped his arms around me, and I leaned into his chest. "It's okay, Auggie... It's going to be okay.." He coaxed, rubbing my back soothingly.

I didn't answer, I wanted to cry, but I refused to let myself do so. No more crying.  
No more tears. You'll be fine. Stop crying. "I'm sorry..." I murmured,'and he grabbed my shoulders with a smile.

"No need to apologize. Soon,you're going to be in your own and I want to make sure that you're happy. If you're ever feeling sad, talk to Jackie or call me or Rose. Don't bottle it up, it never helps, and I'm speaking from experience. We'll always be there for you, Auggie, you just gotta let us know, because some of us aren't touch-telepathics and can't read minds." I laughed at his little joke, and nodded.

"I promise, I'll call you," I assured. I looked out the window, watching the stars, and although they weren't as bright as they could've been, it was still fun to watch.

"There's a constellation there," The Doctor noted. "Aquarius. And right in it is Uranus," he frowned a bit. "Humans have the weirdest names for planets..." I chuckled at that,'listening to him point out the stars. Eventually, my eyes began to grow heavy and I struggled to keep them open.'

The Doctor rubbed my arm, quietly coaxing me into sleep. I wanted to protest when he easily picked my body up and lying me on the bed. "N... No.. I don't want.... To-to sleep..." I murmured, trying to push myself out of bed, but I was so tired.

The Doctor hummed a tune I didn't recognize, pressing the covers over my body. The last thing I heard was the Doctor's promise before I succumbed to darkness.

"It's okay, Auggie. I'll chase the nightmares away."  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta.
> 
> Please do not copy.


	26. C H A P T E R  T W E N T Y ~ F O U R

Chapter 24:  
Augusta's POV  
The next morning, the Doctor broke the news to everyone, about how I wanted to stay here.

Mickey was fine with it, he even smiled a little at me, which is surprising seeing as he was convinced I was some kind of element-bending alien. He's not wrong, but he was actually nice about it, which is what surprised me.

Jackie had been ecstatic, claiming that she was going to take 'such good care of me'. Hell, she even cried a little. After assuring me that she was unharmed and fine, I turned to Rose, who had been uncharacteristically silent the entire time.

Her head had been turned to the side, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, and her face holding a tight-lipped frown. "Rose?" I called, and she didn't move. Was there something wrong? Is she okay?

"So, you're just gonna leave us then," she accused, and my eyes widened.

"Wh-what? No, I... I just want to stay here and-"

"She'll be with Jackie, Rose," the Doctor explained.

She rolled her eyes, "I know that, but..." She looked down. "Do you have to go?"

"I..." I paused, she didn't want me to go? Did she not think that I would be okay? Did she think I would hurt myself, even after I promised the Doctor that I wouldn't?

Now, I looked at the ground, I needed to stay, I needed to keep track of Isobel and... Make sure nobody got hurt.

"Yes. I have to stay," I said firmly. "I-I promise to call whenever I need help, but... I want... I want to make friends. No-Not that I don't want to be with you but I-"

"No, no, I understand," Rose sighed. "You wanna be around people your age."

"... Yes." Rose looked down for another second, before looking at me and sending a smile my way.

"It's okay I understand," she smiled, but my eyes narrowed. "You deserve to be able to make friends. I guess we can't keep you here forever, huh?"

I looked away, that smile... It was fake... "Thank you, Rose," I thanked her anyway.

"C'mon, love," Jackie grinned, brightening the mood. "Let's go bake a cake to celebrate!" Jackie takes me by my hand-that was now gloved by one of my old gloves I found on the TARDIS-and led me into the kitchen.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
After a very... Interesting cake, and a lesson on how some spices are not supposed to go into food. For example, you aren't supposed to put this seasoning called 'papi-rika' into the icing of the cake.

Anyways, everyone seemed to like the cake, or at least choked it down, and smiled, saying that it was good. I knew it wasn't though, but they were smiling and looked happy, so I was happy as well.

Soon enough, it got dark again, and it was time for Rose, Mickey, and the Doctor to leave. I waited beside the TARDIS for the three, who were voicing their goodbyes to Jackie and I.

Rose gave me a big hug with tear filled eyes, "I'm gonna miss you, Auggie."

"I'll be at Jackie's house," I frowned, "You could come tomorrow morning and a week would've gone by for you."

"I know but," Rose sighed. "You're like a kid sister to me, Auggie. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"But nothing is going to-"

"Just... Just let me talk," she interrupted me before starting again. "I want to be there whenever you need help. So... With that being said, I want you to call me if you ever, ever need to talk to someone. The Doctor spiked my cellphone too, so you can call me whenever, wherever, and I'll answer ya. Okay?"

I gave her a smile, "Okay."

"I'm serious, Augusta," I quirked an eyebrow when she used my full name. "If you need anything, just call."

"I will, Rose." Seemingly satisfied, Rose engulfed me in a hug, "Oh, I'm gonna miss ya, kiddo."

"I... I'll miss you too, Rose..." I murmured into her chest before she pulled me away with a great, big, teary-eyed smile.

Rose pulled away, but not before messing up my hair, and going into the TARDIS.

I took a deep breath and turned around, coming face to face with the Doctor. His hands were in his pockets, his face held a very serious expression. I opened my mouth, trying to say something, but I didn't know what to say. What would I say to him? Was he mad? He said that he wasn't mad. Why is it so hard to talk to him..? Why does... Why does it hurt my chest...? Why is he hurting my chest!?

The Doctor came over and held one of my shoulders, "You remember our rules?"

"I-I have to always listen to Jackie, call you or Rose whenever I need something, not to hurt myself in anyway, anymore, and..." My eyes widened, I forgot the last one!

"And have fun," the Doctor finished, messing up my hair. He looked at me, his big, brown eyes sinking into my own with a heavy sigh. "You know what? I hate goodbyes."

"I... I don't like them either," I agreed. "But, you'll be back, so it isn't really goodbye..."

The Doctor smiled, "I guess you're right, eh," he sighed, running a hand down his face. "Look, Auggie. It's a big world, ya know? Big universe. So, uhm, it might get a bit overwhelmed so if you ever need someone to-" I cut him off by slamming my body into his chest and wrapping my arms around his sides. His arms stayed limp to his sides.

"Th-This is called a hug," I muttered. "It's... How someone shows that they love someone else. You taught me that. You... You taught me a lot of things, Doctor. You taught me what love is, and yeah, I don't know too much about it, but... I'm learning, thanks to you. You helped me learn, so... So thank you."

I felt a chuckle rumble in his chest as he wrapped his long, lanky arms around my body in return. "I'm really gonna miss you..."

"You... You don't have to," I said quietly. "You don't have to miss me because I'll be right here and-and you can come back whenever you want. And then I can call you, right? Those are the rules. So, you don't have to miss me because I'll just be right here..."

We stood there hugging each other for what seemed like forever. I wanted it to be forever, but with every passing second, my chest began to hurt and my stomach would twist painfully. Am I hurt? Did someone hurt me? Why did I feel this way!? Why is my chest hurting? Why is my stomach twisting!? What is he doing to me?! Why? Why is he hurting me?!

Stop... I-I don't want to feel it anymore. P-Please...

"Well, I better, ah, go," the Doctor said, pulling away. I stared at him, my thoughts still helplessly scrambled. "I'll be back soon, Auggie." He planted a soft kiss on my forehead, that made my skin tingle, almost the same feeling as when my powers flared, but right now, my powers weren't flaring. Nobody was in trouble; I wasn't in trouble. It just felt... Weird.

I stared at him. The emotions that I felt were... Strange. I don't know how to explain it, I don't how to feel. Why...? Why is he doing these things to me? What is he doing to me?

"I'll... See you later, Auggie," the Doctor gave me one last, kind smile before disappearing behind the TARDIS doors.

My reply was late but I wished that he could hear me, even after the doors were closed on me. Even after the whirring sounds of the TARDIS filled the air, making the air feel like it was vibrating, like there was some kind of unimaginable energy encircling, and then disappearing. Like it never existed in the first place.

As the outline of the TARDIS faded into nothingness, I felt something wet slip by my cheek. A tear? Why was I crying? I wasn't hurt. Stop crying.

But I couldn't stop. Like a dam being released the tears just flowed down my face, trickling the ground like rain droplets. I sniffed, wiping away as many salty tears that I could. I rubbed my sore red eyes and gave a small smile. A small, fake smile even though no one was looking. Because my smile was fake, and my fake smile was able to convince anyone, if I set my mind to it.

And if maybe, just maybe, I tried hard enough, my smile-my very fake smile-could convince even me.

A laugh composed of tears escaped my throat and broke its way through my tears.

"I... I'll see you later... Doctor..."

>*<*>*<*>*<*>*< Six Months Later >*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

"Auggie!" Jackie's very loud voice woke me up from my sleep. I shot up straight in the bed, rubbing a hand down my face. It was morning.

"Mmm... Y... Yes?" I murmured, scratching my thick, messy hair.

"You've got school today," Jackie huffed. She was standing in the doorway, a pink robe wrapped around her frame, and a impatient frown on her face. "Hurry up! Or else you're gonna be late, and if we have anymore tardies then you'll in detention!"

I glanced at the digital alarm clock near the wall. 8:32 AM. My eyes widened, she was right! I only have fifteen minutes!!

"Shi-"

"Language!" Jackie scolded sharply.

"Right, sorry," I meekly apologized, tossing the heavy duvet off the bed. I ran over, snatching a blue and white uniform off the hanger in the closet. I had a long-sleeved plaid shirt and black slacks. I also had my black gloves on, and my excessively long hair braided into chunky braids and pulled into a loose ponytail.

I opened my window, checking myself in the mirror, and then rushed out of the room.

I took a quick shower and got dressed. "Do you want some cereal, Auggie?" Jackie called from the kitchen.

"No, they have breakfast at school," I answered, shrugging on my black blazer that I had left on the chair last night. There was a small stain from... I actually don't know what that is.

I shook the weird thought from my head, "I gotta go, Jackie! Sorry I didn't mean to sleep late I-"

"Just go!" She yelled. I chuckled, pulling my quite heavy bag over my shoulder and ran out of the house.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
The school had only been a fifteen-minute walk away. But, when running it was five to ten minutes.

I raced down the streets, trying my hardest not to bump into people before settling for running on the curb. I was also tying my wild, still quite damp hair into a ponytail as well.

Expertly balancing like some kind of gymnast, I ran as fast I could on the fix to eight-inch wide curb. This would be quite the feat alone had I not have to make sure I didn't run or bump into people that decided it'd be nice to stand dangerously close to the edge of the cub, making it harder to run.

But after a long, tiring effort, I finally make it to the school.

I jumped from the curb and sprinted inside. The morning announcements were echoing through the halls. I cursed to myself, hurrying to my first class. I was just my luck that my class was on the first floor and that the teacher left the door open.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I slid through the door and headed to my seat in the back. The teacher was turned to the white board, allowing me to slip into my seat beside Jesse, who was smiling in amusement at me.

"Aren't you lucky?" Jesse smirked at me, and I nudged their arm.

"Shut up," I told them jokingly. "What'd I miss?" I glanced at the front of the class where the teacher was still writing on the board.

"We have a sub today," they informed, leaning back in their seat. I rose an eyebrow.

"Really?" This was surprising, Mr. Henderson was usually never out. Actually, he was never out all. It was like he never got sick or hurt or something. I truly don't know whether to be happy or concerned. "Who is the sub then?"

"History," my eyes widened at the familiar voice. "Very interesting topic. Who would like to tell us what history is?" I sharply turned to the front of the room where the Doctor was grinning at me, leaning against the board. "Would you like to explain what that is, Augusta Smith? Or better yet, why you were late to class today?"  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
For the rest of the class, Jesse teased me lightly on how much of a coincidence it was that the Doctor, or Mr. John Smith, was subbing.

The class seemed to drag on longer than it was supposed to, but eventually, class had ended and it was time for second period.

The class had been a bit chatty during the class, but it had gotten even louder after it had finished. "Hey, wanna hang out at free period?" Jesse asked, "I brought my Rubik's again."

I glanced at the Doctor, who was subtly watching us, probably listening in on our conversation. "Sorry, I don't think I can..." I know that his next class has a free period before they came to him, so we'd be fine to talk.

Catching onto my glance, they nodded. "Family thing?"

"Yeah... Something like that," I sighed. "I'll meet you in Mrs. Deb's class."

"Okay, see ya, Augusta," Jesse picked up their bag, patting me on the back. "Good luck."

I laughed, "Thanks, see you later." The class had been pretty empty by now.

With his hands in his brown trench coat, he strode over easily, a smirk on his face. "Nice to see you, Auggie."

I smiled at him, "Nice to see you too." I quickly went over hugging him tightly. "I really missed you, Doctor..."

"I did too," he said into my hair. We pulled apart and he was grinning madly at me. "So, how are liking this? Make any new friends?"

I shrugged, "Not really, actually. Jesse is my best friend, they're really cool. I know a few of people, but I'm not as close to them as I am to Jesse."

"Who's Jesse?"

"The person I was sitting next to," I replied. "They went to the old school, too. In fact, they moved everyone from that old school to here, since it was closest."

"How are you liking it, Auggie?" The Doctor asked again, now a little concerned.

"It's fine," I answered before he could worry anymore. "Not as good as traveling with you and Rose though."

"Is Isobel still...?"

"No," I said. "I actually haven't heard from her since the last school."

"Oh. Did she get hurt during the fire?"

"Not that I know of," I paused for a second. He didn't know that Isobel somehow knew about the Director and I'd rather not tell him what's been going on... "I don't know what happened to her, actually..."

He nodded, "Well, it's almost second period, and I already told your other teachers that I was going to take you out early."

"Really?" I frowned, "Why?"

He chuckled, messing up my hair, "So we can go out again! On the TARDIS! I have a list of galaxies that I wanna show you that you would love! Where do you wanna start? The Yorugan Galaxy has a delightful display of flora, that's plants by the way, and it's breath-taking! You'd love it!"

"Wait, wait, wait," I said, holding my hands out to stop him from explaining his entire pre-made list of worlds for us to discover. "You... You just want me to go?"

He quirked a strange eyebrow, "Yes, that was the plan."

"Oh..." I looked at the ground for a second, "Okay then. Let's go." My voice held a significant amount of lacking enthusiasm that the Doctor easily caught onto.

"You're upset," he frowned, "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just... I, uhm, didn't expect you to want to go immediately... B-But I'm fine with going of course."

A hurt look crossed his face, "You're lying again."

"I'm not..." I sighed, placing my face in my hands. "I... I didn't think that you'd want to go so quickly..."

Then it clicked and disappointment fell on his face. "You... Don't want to leave, do you?"

"I do!" I exclaimed, "I really do, I just..." I shifted my feet, leaning against the table. I looked at the ground, I couldn't bring myself to look at the disappointment in his eyes. "I... I wanna learn more, and..." I paused, "Doctor, I like being here. I like being... Normal..."

I stole a glance at the wall, "I-I should head off and.... Get to class, I'm going to be late." I quickly gathered my belongings, "I'll see you at Jackie's house."

I quickly hurried out the door, only to have the Doctor hold onto my hand before I left. "Auggie are you... Sure you're alright?"

Slowly, I turned to him, giving him a smile. "I'm fine, Doctor," I answered. "I'm always fine. No need to worry anymore...."  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
It was finally free period, which was in-between third and lunch. "Are you sure you can't come?" Jesse asked, rather disappointed.

"Yeah, I'm sorry Jesse," I sighed. I told them about the entire... Situation, well, except for the traveling through space and time part. I needed advice and they were the only person who I knew that I could confide with. "I'll come to lunch though, okay? We can talk then. Oh, and I need help with that English assignment so..."

Jesse laughed, "Okay, okay. Ya know, one of these days, you're going to have to learn how to do it yourself."

"I know!" I whined with a heavy sigh. "I don't understand why a language is so hard to understand! It's just letters messed up and making new words! But then you people have to give it weird meanings and weird soundings hard to pronounce! And then there's certain places where the words go and, UGH! I hate English!"

Jesse was laughing so hard at my rant that they teared up a little. Wiping a through stray tears from their eyes, they smiled at me. "You're funny, Augusta."

I blinked, "Really? I was actually a bit..." I paused thinking of the word. "Frustrated."

"You're funny," they insisted and I shrugged the comment away. "No really, you are!"

"Whatever you say. I'm gonna head off now, okay? I'll meet you in fourth period, right?"

"Yep!" They grinned broadly, "Don't forget about that unit test in Mr. Humphrey's class." With that, they hurried down the hall.

I chuckled to myself. Unit test? We don't have a unit test in-

Oh shit.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
Doctor's POV  
He honestly didn't know whether to be disappointed or happy for Augusta. She had finally gotten what she wanted-happiness. He had wanted her to feel happy; to feel welcomed somewhere other than the sanctity of the TARDIS. She was even able to communicate more and make friends on her own, despite her social anxiety, dyslexia, and depression.

When he saw her talking to one of the students earlier, pride filled him. He was happy for her that she was able to fit in and learn with others so easily. This wasn't something that he could teach her, it was something that she had to explore and discover on her own. And to see her there, talking and interacting with people that she probably knew nothing about when they first met, to now be able to laugh and share events in their lives with each other, it made his hearts grow.

Now, he didn't know what to think about her, after she left for school, it had been about six months, that's a lot of time for a person to learn and grow and adapt to a new environment. What kind of person was she now? What had she learned? How has she changed and in what ways? And most of all, why didn't she want to travel with him?

To think about it, having the chance to explore the universe anywhere, anytime. It was a pretty phenomenal chance to be given to anyone, so what exactly was holding her back?

The sound of the school bell ringing throughout the school brought his third class to a close. It would be Augusta's free period, about now. maybe he'd be able to talk to again.

After hearing from one of the teachers that most of the students spend their free period in study hall, or the school library, he headed over. The student Augusta was sitting with was near the side of the room, sitting by themselves.

Striding over, he gently tapped the table in front of them to get their attention. They were fully engulfed in solved a six-sided, 5x5 Rubik's cube. Their fingers were flying over the cube, before stopping, looking up at him.

"Yes, sir?" They paused for a second. "Wait a second, you're that sub, right? Augusta's family friend?"

He rose an eyebrow, she told them about him. "Yes, I was wondering if you knew where she was...?"

The student pursed their lips, sitting up straight. "She told me that she was with you," then, they sighed. "She's probably in the computer lab, again. Working on that project."

"What project?"

They rose an eyebrow, "You don't know? She's been trying to work on this super top-secret project that she can't tell anyone about," they gave a small scoff. "Even me. Look, if she is working on the project, she's probably in the computer lab. That's all I know."

He scratched his sideburns, wondering why she would be in the computer lab. He was also curious what was this project she was working on as well. "Well, thanks," he thanked the student, going away to look for her.

"Hey, if you find her, remind her to come to lunch too, she forgets sometimes," the student let out a laugh.

He frowned instantly, letting out a low sigh, "I will. Thanks again."

"No problem," they muttered, turning back to their Rubik's cube.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
Luckily, the school only had one computer room, which was a short ways from study hall. There were several rows of computers and there were some students inside, talking near the door and exiting the room, but otherwise, it was nearly empty.

In the front corner though, a familiar bush of dark hair was very focused on one of the computers, typing away.

He walked along the edges of the room silently, and she didn't seem to hear him. When he was a few feet away, he could see exactly what she had been working on.

And his jaw dropped.

"Augusta!" He shouted, and the girl jumped so high, she nearly fell out of her chair. She turned around at him, fear clouding her face. But as soon as she saw him, it turned to confusion.

"Doctor? What-"

Swiftly, he grabbed her hand, pulling her away from the computer. Her eyes widened at his strong pull, her breath hitching in her throat. "D-"

"What is this!?" He demanded angrily. Augusta's eyes widened and she took a step back from him instantly.

"I-I-" she was visibly shaking. Probably from fear pumping in her veins.

He took a deep breath to force himself to calm down. "Why are you working on this? Do you know what could happen if you solved it?"

"I..." She twisted her gloved fingers together, "I didn't know it was..."

"Augusta, this is the Skasis Paradigm! If you open this, then you'll have the building blocks to create a universe!"

Her eyes slowly widened and she gasped, "Wha... What? I-I didn't know the it would..."

"Create a universe?" The Doctor scoffed, "Augusta, nobody should have that power! You need to stop now!"

She looked down, not meeting his eyes, "O... Okay..." Quickly, she turned to the computer, typing rapidly. In seconds, the computer program was gone. Augusta scratched her arm, looking away. He didn't notice her slip something up her sleeve.

He gave her a look, slightly distrustful. Whipping out his sonic, he quickly sonicked the computer, wiping any and everything on it.

After he finished, he looked at Augusta, who's eyes were on the ground and her hands shaking. Tears were filling her eyes, threatening to spill. The air around her seemed to get much cooler, and he noticed how less of a hold she had on her abilities.

"Augusta?" She looked up at him, the tears now falling. Her eyes were full of regret and guilt. He sighed, maybe he had gone a little too hard on her? She did say she didn't know what would happen. "Augusta, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that," he reached out a hand to touch her but she took a step back, flinching away.

Now his eyes widened, was she really that scared of him? "N-No, I don't.... I don't have full control, I..." She glanced over her shoulder. "I-I need to go." Quickly turning, she ran out of the room, and before he could run after her, she was gone, leaving the door swinging in her quake.

He sighed, running a hand down his face. Reminding himself to talk to her as soon as he got back home.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
Augusta's POV  
I stumbled down the hall, bumping into people accidentally, barely mumbling an apology as I passed. I looked around for a safe place, any safe place. I need to hide. Hide somewhere so they won't get me!

The Doctor. The Doctor's mad at me. He hates me. I saw the look in his eyes; anger. He's angry with me. Angry means I get punished. The Director already told me that. He-he'll come, the Doctor will give me to the Director and then the Director will hurt me more.

I moved to a door with the lights out. I pushed the door open and fell inside. Falling on the ground, I quickly kicked the door close, and then tried to unsuccessfully calm down.

I don't wanna get hurt. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna get hurt. I don't wanna die. I don't-I-I don't...

Help. Please. Help me. I can't breathe. Help! I can't-I'm going to die! I'm going to- help! Help!!

Help. Jesse said to-to call them. Call Jesse. Th-They'll get help.

I fumbled my phone out of my pocket and clicked Jesse's number which was on what they called 'speed dial.' After a few short rings, they answered it. "Hello? Augusta? I thought you said that you're coming to lunch!" Their voice rang from the phone.

"I-I need help, I... Breathe! I can't breathe, I-I can't, I-help. I... Jesse, please I-"

"Where are you?" Their voice was serious, I could already hear their footsteps going down the hall.

"Dark. It's so dark, I-it's too dark. He's going to get me, I don't wanna go back I-help. The Director's gonna kill me!"  
I sobbed into my hands, my entire body was shaking. No, no stop! It was too dark and he was touching me! He was hurting me! I don't want to be hurt anymore help me! Please... Anyone...

"Augusta, you gotta give me a name so I can guess where you are! Tell me what you see. Are you in the girls' bathroom?" I didn't respond, I can't. I can't talk. He-he would punish me. No... No talking n-no... No... Talking. H-He was gonna come. He's gonna hurt me. I can't-can't think about him, he would laugh.

No! No laughing. I don't want to-to hear! No. No! No! No! No! No! No! N-

"Augusta?" I looked up. Light streamed in behind Jesse and they stared down at me. Their eyes filled with worry. Quickly, they sat down beside me. "Hey so I brought my Rubik's if you wanna use it?" I shook my head. I can't touch. I can't-the chains would hurt me. He would hurt me. Don't move. D-Don't speak. Don't think. Don't mo-

"So, I was talking to Jason, right? You know, the one with spiky hair? Yeah, he was trying to solve it-the Rubik's-and he couldn't even get one side! It was really funny, you should have seen it! He got so frustrated that he nearly threw it!" A chuckle escaped my throat. Wh-what am I doing? No, don't laugh, he'll-

"Ya know, you're the only one who can solve it the fastest," Jesse commented. "I have no clue how. Maybe you should sign up for a competition!"

I giggled softly, "I-I... I couldn't do that. It... Wouldn't be fair."

"Yeah it would," they argued, crossing their arms over their chest. "They would probably all be older so it'd be funny to see them lose!" I laughed at their comment, smiling slightly. "You wanna go to lunch now? We can show Jason how you're gonna kick his ass on the Rubik's just to see how mad he gets!"

I paused for a second, looking around, would it be okay for me to go? Would I get in trouble? My eyes fell back on Jesse, who gave me a big smile. A real big smile. I trust them. They... They helped me.

Jesse extended their hand to me, which, after a moments hesitation, I gently accepted, and stood up. Still smiling, Jesse led me out of the closet and down the hall, going off to lunch.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
For the rest of the day, Jesse stayed with me. I also didn't see the Doctor or Rose or even Mickey either, making me a bit curious as to where they went.

Before I knew it, the day was over. Jesse and I left with our school bags ready to go home. Jesse had still been concerned from when I got scared earlier, "Do you want me to walk you home?" They asked, but I shook my head politely declining.

"No. I should be fine. Besides, your parents get mad if you're late, right? I don't want you to get in trouble because of me." I paused for a second, "And your house is over the bridge on Seventh Street, it's a long walk so if you start now you'd be able to make it before dark."

They sighed, knowing I was right, "Well, will you at least text me once you get home?"

I grinned, "Yep!" Jesse laughed at my sudden optimism and gave me a short hug.

"I'll see you later, Augusta," they waved as they walking away.

"Bye, Jesse," I waved back.

As soon as they were out of sight, I turned on my heel, going back into the school.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
I quickly made it to the computer lab be sat down on the computer across from the one that the Doctor had erased.

Taking the flash drive out of my sleeve where I hid it earlier, I swiftly got into the Headmaster's account, and accessed my work.

I breathed a sigh of relief, finding it all still there. The one that I showed the Doctor had only been a decoy. I didn't want him to know that I was doing this, but knowing that he was in the school, I couldn't let him risk all the hard work that I've been doing for the past six months.

The Skasis Paradigm was an intricate puzzle that I wanted-needed-to complete. It was a challenge, it was my challenge. If I complete this, I'll be able to create a universe of my own where everybody could finally be happy. The Doctor could be on Gallifrey, happy, with no Daleks or Time War to worry about. Rose could have her father. They could be together. They could be happy! I could get rid of the Director, he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone ever again.

And with everyone finally happy... I could reprogram the universe without me. Everyone can be happy, and I could finally... Be free.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
I hurried to the side of the apartment. I glanced around, looking for any suspicious movements. After making sure that nothing was there, I quickly weaved the metal pipes that decorated the sides into a ladder and climbed up.

Slipping into my open window, I fixed the pipes, and closed my window. "Everyone was waiting for you." A voice spoke up behind me. I tensed and turned around. The Doctor say on the side of my bed, tossing the sonic in his hand, lazily.

"Sorry. I was hanging out with Jesse. I didn't notice how late it was..." I scratched the back of my head, glancing at the clock. 9:34 PM. School had ended nearly six hours ago.

"You didn't think to call?" The Doctor asked.

"Sorry..."

"Augusta," the Doctor stood up. I noticed that he and I were now around the same height. "Staying out this late... Not telling anyone where you are! It's unacceptable!"

"Sorry," I sighed. "I meant to call..."

"Sorry isn't going to cut it, Augusta. Do you know how worried we all were?!"

"... No."

"Very. We all were worried! Do you know how worried Jackie was!? She even said that you've done this more than once!"

"I called her," I argued softly. "I usually do. Sometimes, I forget."

"What if something happened to you?" He threw his hands in the air, "It's dangerous to walk alone at this time of night, Augusta."

I rose an eyebrow, "You think I can't protect myself?"

"No. I just don't want someone to get hurt." I blinked at his words, taking a step back.

"You... You think that I'm going to hurt someone else...?"

"What? No!" he ran a hand through his hair. "I don't want you to get hurt. And in certain situations, I don't want you to get someone else hurt."

"You think I'm dangerous, don't you?"

"I don't, Augusta," he assured. "I'd never think that."

"Then, I don't see why I can't stay out late."

"Because there are more dangers out there! What if you don't come back!?"

"Why wouldn't I come back? You Jackie, and Rose are here."

"You know what I mean," he sighed. "What if you got taken, again? What would we do!?"

"Nothing." His eyes widened at my answer.

"August-"

"If I were to be taken again, I wouldn't be... 'Augusta' anymore. If... If the Director took me again, then..." I paused, looking at the ground. "Then, you should kill me."

"Augusta. I told you that I'm never, ever going to-" I dry chuckle left my throat, and I rolled my eyes.

"Doctor, that's not going to work! I... I barely kept myself from not... Killing you last time. I didn't know you! I don't even know why I... I trusted you. I should have... I... " I covered my hands with my face. "The Director will kill me if he gets me again. I don't... I don't want to die. I don't want to get anyone else hurt."

"You don't have to! If you fought him last time, you can do it again!"

I looked at him, my eyes filled with unshed tears. I slowly shook my head, "I..." I swallowed down the knot in my throat. "I won't be able to fight anyone if I'm dead, Doctor..."

He stared at me for several seconds, completely quiet. The silence was crippling, as I tried to look anywhere but at his disappointed, sadden face. "Augusta, you..." His words got lost in his mouth and he sighed. He got off the bed, and went to the door, "Go to sleep. We'll talk more in the morning."

He shut the door behind him. I stared at my feet, not moving for several seconds. Finally, I went to go to bed, changing my clothes, and slipping into the bed.

As I lied in bed, my stomach began to twist painfully. My eyes widened, and I sat up straight, my eyes wide in confusion. Wha-what is this? Why am I feeling this!? Why... Why does it hurt!? Why am I hurting!? I don't-I don't understand! This-this isn't right! Who's doing this to me!?

Is... Is the Doctor doing this? Is he hurting me for being out so late?! Horror flickered across my face at my conclusion that terrified me. He... He said he wouldn't hurt me! Why am I hurting then!? Why is he hurting me!!

Stop! Stop, please! Make it-make it stop!!

I don't want to feel... This anymore...  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
I can't sleep. At all. It's-it's not working. Maybe I'm doing it wrong again?

I sighed, tossing the covers off my body, and going to the window. Whenever I couldn't sleep, I'd just go watch the sun and the stars in the sky. It usually helped, and made me tired. Luckily, it hadn't been too light tonight, so I was able to spot a few.

I weaved the pipes that lingered outside the house to create my ladder again, and made my way to the roof.

It had been pretty late, so I was able to see a few stars, although some clouds had blocked them as well. I didn't mind. I found the clouds pretty too.

I sighed at the sight thinking of how rarely I'd get the chance to see... This before I began living with Jackie. Why... Why would anyone not like this?! It's amazing!

I sat there for hours, watching the sky, before the sun began to rise. I still had yet to fall asleep, but it was getting really early. The Doctor might worry if I'm out too late, again.

I stood up, heading back down the wall and to my room. Luckily, the door was still closed. No one noticed I was gone. I silently slipped into bed and tried to go back to sleep, again.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
About two hours later, I felt someone shaking me gently. "Hey, Auggie. Time to get up."

I moaned softly, rubbing my eyes, and letting out a icy yawn. "'M tired, Jackie..."

They laughed, "Sorry, I'm not Jackie." I frowned, looking up. I blinked for a second before gasping.

"Rose!!" I cried, sleep leaving my body to wrap my arms around the woman's neck.

She laughed, "Hey, kiddo."

"I missed you!" I muttered.

"I did too. So, the Doctor told me you're in school now, yeah? How is it?"

"Fun!" I beamed, "I met a new friend, except they're not really new. I met them at the other school with he aliens, but then they came to this one too, so it's great! Their name is Jesse! They also said I'm their best friend, but I don't really know what that means. Anyways, they're in pretty much all my classes too, and we talk together a lot. They... They actually care for me, like you and the Doctor do!"

"That sounds great, kiddo," Rose smiled warmly, messing up my-already messy-hair. "I wanna meet them."

"Yeah, I told them all about you! Jesse said that they didn't really like you at first. They thought that you left me forever, but I told them that you were coming back! I don't think that they like you both still, but after they meet you two, I'm sure they'll like you again!"

Rose quirked an eyebrow, "Well, maybe we can meet your friend after school. Oh, by the way, that starts in about... Thirty minutes! Maybe you'll be able to get there on time for once." She scolded lightly, tapping my forehead with her forefinger. "Hurry up. Maybe I can get the Doctor to drop you off," she winked at me, before heading for the door.

I quickly scampered out of the bed, and went to the closet. I grabbed my uniform and gloves. I hurried over to unlock and open my window, before going out of the room, and into the bathroom.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
I was able to finish showing and getting ready in able fifteen minutes, giving me more than enough time to eat and leave.

Rose sat at the table with Jackie, with a cup of tea in her hands and talking. I quickly went to the cabinet, pulling out a box of cereal and a bowl. "Do you have enough time to eat?" Jackie asked.

"Yeah, I should," I shrugged. Pouring the milk into the cereal and began to eat.

"So, Auggie," Rose spoke up, "What else are you doing in school? Any clubs?"

I shook my head, "No. I mostly spend time with Jesse after school." I paused for a second, adding, "Oh, and sorry I got home late. We didn't realize until it was too late."

"It's fine," Rose assured. I blinked, she reacted completely different than the Doctor did! "Hey, hurry or else you're going to be late for school!"

I nodded, shoveling the rest of the cereal in my mouth before getting up from the table and grabbing my bag. "Do ya still want that ride?"

I shook my head, "No, I should be fine if I leave now. I'll see you after school, and I'll try not to stay too late."

"Okay, hurry up kiddo," Rose called as I went to the door, "Or else you'll miss first period!" I laughed and left the house.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
Being on time for once actually felt rather good, I mused to myself as I entered the school. The halls still had scattered students here and there, but the morning announcements were not on, so she took that as a win.

After a short trip to her locker, she went to her first class, luckily not finding a sub, or the Doctor. Mr. Henderson stood at the front of the class, wiping off leftover markings from yesterday.

I saw Jesse sitting in the back of the class, per usual. They were solving the six-by-six Rubik's with a frustrated look on their face. They groaned, "I can't get it!" They tossed the cube at me, which I easily caught, shuffling it in my hands and then redoing it.

Several seconds later, I had finished, leaving Jesse pissed off, their eyebrow twitching. "It's not that hard," I tried to say, but they gave me a pout, turning away.

"Easy for you to say, little miss bloody genius!" They hissed, eyes narrowing.

I chuckled, knowing that they only meant well. "What's going on? Anything new?"

"Nah," they shrugged. "Well, I mean that sub, Mr. Smith, right? He's gone."

"Ah, yeah I know that," I shrugged. "We actually got into a argument last night, but he... Well, he kind of walked off..." I rubbed the back of my neck, just as the morning announcements came on, rendering the chatty classroom silent, and once it finished, our first class started.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
"So are you gonna come with me to free period today?" Jesse asked, giving me a pointed look. We were in the hallway, walking to study hall for free period.

"Yeah" I laughed apologetically. "Sorry. I couldn't come yesterday, I-"

"I know you weren't talking to Mr. Smith," Jesse said, with their hands behind their head. "Mr. Smith asked we where you were during free period."

I blinked, "Oh... Uh-"

"Look, if you didn't want to hang out then you could've just told me. You really didn't have to lie to me, Augusta."

"Ri-Right. Sorry, I didn't mean to. I had to work on... The project."

"You mean that one in the computer lab that you've been working on all year!?" I tried not to flinch at their tone, looking away.

"S... Sorry, Jesse. I just... I have to finish it. Look, I won't work on it today, I'll stay with you, and-" Jesse sent me a small glare and I instantly froze, crossing my tingling hands over my chest to keep my powers from flaring.

"What's been up with you lately? And what is this 'project' anyway?" They demanded, securely placing their hand on their lips.

"I... I..." I sighed, looking around. There were too many people over here to talk about it. Quickly, I motioned to the side of the hall near the wall, and strode over, placing my hands into the pockets of my pants.

"What?"

"Okay, it's, uhm, really hard to explain and you probably won't understand half of it," I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "I'll try to make it simple. There's this code that I found that can... Well, recreate the universe." Jesse's jaw dropped, their eyes practically bulging out of their head.

"It can what!?" They nearly shouted, but I placed a hand over their mouth, keeping them from talking too loudly.

"Shh!" I hissed, "You can't talk too loudly!"

"W... What? Why?" They demanded, their eyes widening. "Where did you get a code like that!? Why are you trying to crack something like that?!"

"I... I can't explain right now, Jesse," I muttered. "It's a... Long story. But still, I'm sorry that I don't always spend time with you, I really need to finish it." I paused, "Do you still wanna go to Study hall together? I... I won't go to the computer lab again."

"Actually, can we go to the computer lab? I kinda wanna see this code," Jesse smirked playfully, but I rolled my eyes.

"Sure, if you want," I shrugged, turning around so we could go the other way.

"So, what kind of code is it?" Jesse asked.

"The special kind," I teased. "It's actually a really interesting code. It's composed of a bunch of different codes and each one that you crack gives a different answer to the over puzzle. There's nearly a million different puzzles that need to be cracked, some more difficult than others. It's really had to explain."

Jesse hummed, nodding. "Sounds interesting."

"And then, after I get through all those puzzles, I honestly don't know what I'll happen if I get that far but... I need to find out."

"Why?"

"Long story."

"We have all of free period and lunch."

"That... Won't be enough to explain everything." Jesse caught onto my arm, making me jump instinctively.

"Augusta, you can tell me anything. I'm you're best friend, remember?"

I gave a dry chuckle, "Would you believe me if I told you that I really don't know what that means?"

"Yeah. I mean, you are the same person who didn't know how to use a pager, or knew what 'cupcakes' were."

I scratched the back of my head, remembering the time when they brought me a cupcake. "I didn't know!" I argued, but they only laughed at me.

"It was a cupcake and you thought it was a bomb or something!" Jesse laughed, and I turned the other way, crossing my arms over my chest.

After their laughed died down, they began to talk again. "But seriously, Augusta, you can tell me anything. Really."

I looked down, a frown growing on my face. "Are... Are you sure? I don't want to-"

"What did I say about best friends?" They cut me off, "And besides, all those times that I helped you when you were having an attack, I deserve at least a little bit of knowledge on the subject."

I sighed, "Fine... But it's a long story."

"We have free period and lunch, remember?"

"Right. O-Okay... How do I, uhm, start with this...?"

"From the beginning would be nice," they smirked.

I took a deep breath, "I'm not human."  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

By the end of my story, Jesse was gaping, staring at me, I don't know whether in shock or horror, but either way, I couldn't look at them. I was scared. Did I scare them? Did they hate me?! I... They are my only friend, I don't want them to leave so soon!!

"So..." They began, a small frown grazing their reddish lips as they rose a thin brow in curiosity. "You're like an Avatar?"

I gaped at them, "I... I, uh, don't know what that is... Aren't you mad? I-I thought that you would hate me o-or something..."

"Are you kidding me?!" They practically screamed, "That's so cool!! I always wanted to be friends wit-" I covered their mouth before they could finish.

"Haha, let's not scream that please..." I muttered with a nervous laugh, looking around carefully.

Jesse nodded, as we entered the computer lab, and much like yesterday, it was empty. "Over here," I said, motioning to the computer near the side. Easily, I opened it up, and pulled up the program.

"Hey... Isn't that the headmaster's account?" I froze, my fingers stopping for a second.

"U... Uhm yeah... But don't tell him..." I murmured, pulling up the actual program. Jesse gave a small gasp, staring at the screen with wide, shocked eyes. I cleared my throat, as I began to go through it. To Jesse, it probably looked like a bunch of ones and zeros, but to me, it was like a maze, each corner brining up a new challenge, some easier than others.

"This is what it looks like. It's, uh, kinda hard to explain it all. Basically, it's like a maze, but not, uh, really. Like I said, hard to explain. I guess you could call it an infinity maze, because the code is created to go on... Infinitely, but if you finish a certain number of puzzles, then I believe it'll unlock itself, most likely revealing the end."

"What's at the end?" Jesse asked, leaning against the table behind us.

"That's the question," I grinned. "Hopefully, the building blocks to the universe, but it is possible for it to be... Well, another entire maze..."

"Really?!"

"Yep," I nodded dutifully. "Sometimes, codes are like... Those round white things that supposedly makes you cry? Uhm..."

"Onions?" They suggested.

"Yes! They have many layers, but they're thin; easier to break down. Others are like a giant ball of numbers and symbols and signs, making everything... Jumbled. Like a ball of yarn, almost, which takes longer to get into because of its messy coding. I honestly have no clue which kind of code this one is yet, I have an assumption, but this is the code to the universe, so it might be a mixture of both."

"How long do you think it'll take before you finish?" They asked.

"Depending on what kind of code it is and the puzzles' difficulty, it could be a week to a year. But, by now, I've finished enough of the harder parts that maybe even someone like you could finish. It'd take nearly a decade, but yeah."

Jesse frowned, insulted, "'Someone like me'?"

I shrugged, thinking none of it. "You know. Human." I looked up to see Jesse's eyes narrowed, their dark eyes rather anger. I immediately stiffened as they cross their arms, "Wh-what did I-"

"Just because I'm human doesn't mean I'm stupid, Augusta," they said, their lip curled into a frown.

"S... Sorry. I didn't mean it like tha-"

"Sure you didn't," Jesse huffed, crossing their arms. "Remember, not all of us can be geniuses."

"So-Sorry, I-"

"Look, I'm going to be in the library if you need me, since you obviously seem to have this covered," they growled, turning on their heel, and going to the door.

"Wait! Jesse, I-" the door slammed shut, and I sighed. "I... Didn't mean it like that..."

I glanced at the computer screen, then at the door. I can talk to them at lunch, I comprised, turning back to my work, and continued silently.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
I sighed to myself after searching the cafeteria for nearly ten minutes. I didn't see Jesse anywhere at lunch! Maybe they went home early? I guess I don't really have a reason to go to lunch, then...

Turning on my heel, I silently slipped out of the cafeteria, and back to the computer lab.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
I frowned to myself. I didn't see Jesse for the rest of the day. Maybe they had an early dismissal, or something? I sighed, I'll apologize to them tomorrow...

With that, I started my trek back to Jackie's house with a growing feeling of worry for my friend.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
"I'm home!" I called as I entered the house. Jackie stepped out of the kitchen, with a smile on her face.

"Oh, you're back early today," she commented as I passed her, shifting the strap on my bag. "How was school?"

"Boring; it's school." Jackie scoffed, rolling her ivory eyes. "Go wash up. Supper'll be ready in a few, love."

"Is Rose and the Doctor here?" I asked, sitting at the coffee table.

"In the TARDIS out back. I think they were talkin'. Want me to ring them in?"

"No, I got homework to finish," I replied. "Can I eat in my room tonight?"

Jackie frowned, "You weren't here to eat last night, and you don't wanna eat with everyone tonight!? Who knows how long Rose and that Doctor will be here!"

"I really gotta finish this stuff, Jackie. It's English and History! You know how much I need the grade! I don't wanna fail, so I have to finish it tonight."

Jackie looked away with a dejected look, "Oh, I know!" She scowled, "But I want everyone here."

"... I... I'll see if I can finish it after supper..." I muttered, going to my room and closing the door behind me.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
Dinner had been rather awkward. Of course, Rose and the Doctor were there, along with Mickey, but he had to leave early, for some reason. The conversation topic had bounced around a bit, but luckily, it hadn't been anything serious.

After finishing the majority of food on my plate, I got up from the table, "I still have school work to finish," I announced, "Good night; I'll see you in the morning."

"G'night, Auggie!" Rose chorused with a smile, that I returned easily.

"Night," The Doctor waved, along with Jackie as slipped into the guest room with my schoolbag.

I flicked on the light, and dragged my bag to the bed, and pulling my books out of my bag, and drowning myself in schoolwork.

What seemed like mere minutes but really was hours later, I heard a short, abrupt knock at the door. "Come in," I answered, scribbling down the last few words in my essay, before turning to my next assignment.

The Doctor stepped in the room. "Lights out. You have school tomorrow."

"Can I finish this assignment first? It's the last one."

He nodded, "I'll be back in thirty minutes." Then, he closed the door behind him. Simultaneously, my phone buzzed on my nightstand.

Bending over, I flipped it open to reveal one new message:

Unknown Sender:

*meet me at the bridge on 7th it's an emergency  
-Jesse

I blinked, frozen for a second. When did I give them my number? I was about to respond when I received another text.

Unknown Sender:

*hurry leave now!  
-Jesse

This made me jump up, taking no time to slip on a pair of sneakers, going to the window and silently slipping out, running down the street.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
I made it to the bridge in about twenty minutes. I stopped to take a breath when I arrived, looking around for my familiar dark-haired friend.

The bridge had been oddly empty. It was one of the few bridges that crossed the Thames, and was usually bustling during the day. Now, it was silent, the crescent moon above shining little light on it. Of course, the yellowish, flickering street lamps still shined rather brightly, but otherwise, the scene had rather eerie, sending chills down my back.

As I stepped unto the rather long bridge, my eyes searched anywhere, and everywhere, for my friend. "Jesse!" I called out into the unsettling darkness. "Jesse, where are you!?" The fear of being too late grew in my mind, making my gloved hands tremble.

Then, a figure stepped out from behind a suspension beam. I sighed in relief, running over and hugging them around the neck tightly, my face nuzzling into their red hair. "Thank god, Jesse! You scared the shit out of me! Tell me, what's going on? Did you leave class early? Why weren't you at lunch?! What's-" I froze looking at their hair. Red. Red hair. Not black.

I pushed away from them, scrambling away as fast as I could. My eyes widened, I could feel my powers react to my fear, as my entire forearm began to tingle.

"What's wrong?" An icy voice spoke in front of me. A smirk danced across her punctured lips, her forest green eyes giving me a mocking stare. "Don't stop on my account."

My dark eyes turned to a dangerous glare. "What did you do with Jesse!?" I demanded. "Give them back!"

"Jesse? Jesse is fine, aren't you, Jess?" Isobel turned around, staring into the dark, where another figure stepped out.

I sighed in relief at the sight of my best friend, "Jesse!? Are you okay?"

Jesse chuckled darkly, "Why wouldn't I be?"

I stared at them, "What... Be-Because she-Isobel, she's working with the Director, sh-"

"Oh, shut up, would you?" Jesse scoffed, rendering me silent. "Don't you get it? You were played; we're working together."

"B... But how?! You're human! Yo-"

"Who said anything about being human?" Jesse asked with a smirk. Isobel clicked her fingers and like a curtain being pulled, the Jesse that I knew was gone. Instead, it was replaced by a large alien with claws and bat-like wings, their mouth filled with sharp teeth, their jaw unhinged, revealing the back of a dark abyss that seems to go on forever.

I gasped, moving back as the creature growled at me. "What did you do!?" I hissed at Isobel.

"What do you mean? This is Jesse. Well, their name is actually Go'kiath. This is what they truly look like. To ask for 'Jesse' would be rather rude, actually." Isobel giggled to herself. "I'm quite surprised you didn't realize them, but I guess that means that my illusions are strong enough to even beat you, huh?" Isobel stepped over and I glared as she circled around me, staring. "Daddy's favorite. Always loved to toy with you, not that I'm complaining. Had to keep the Monster in check someway."

I moved to lung at her, but Jesse-or Go'kiath, whatever-moved to swiftly hold my arms back, digging their nails into my skin. "Ah, ah, ah, you'll get to play later, right now, we talk."

I struggling in their grip, a few strands of hair falling in my face. "What do you want with me?" I snarled.

Isobel stared at me, "They talk a lot about you at home. The Monster whose hands are dripping in blood. After the... Incident on Platform 500, there's been a bit of unrest back at home. You have quite the bounty over your head. Whoever brings you back, dead or alive, gets to be free. They are allowed to go wherever they want, all paid for by the Director. Of course, there are some of us who'd rather stay there, so we get to work for them, for compensation!" Jesse forced me to my knees, and I groaned, my eyebrow wincing.

"Don't you see!? If I bring you back, I finally get to be the one in the spotlight! I'll be the one whom everyone talks about! The Mentalist who bested the Monster! I'll practically be the most powerful person in the Universe! Everyone will fear me! And my brother, the one that you killed, will be able to rest peacefully knowing that the one you will be dead tonight."

"I didn't..." I squeezed my eyes shut as Jesse began to draw blood with their claws embedded into my neck. "I didn't kill your brother!"

"Don't play stupid; he was in your head!" My eyes widened as I recalled the memory of when I first saw Subject 12-June.34 being destroyed to nonexistence.

"I-I didn't kill him, I-"

"I don't fucking care whether you killed him or not. He's dead, because of you, so you will pay for it with your life!" She growled.

"And what are you going to do?! You won't be able to stop me, soon enough the Doctor will come and-"

"That Time Lord and the human? They're already here." She pointed across the bridge where sure enough Rose and the Doctor were tied to a pillar.

"Augusta, no!" Rose cried tears in her eyes.

"Don't do it, Augusta! Leave us, don't do it!!" The Doctor raged, struggling in his bonds.

I shook my head. "They're not real. You said you were illusionist, how do I know that they are real?!" I hissed.

Isobel rolled her eyes. "How do you know they're not?" She countered. "Here's the deal, Elementist, you will jump off that bridge or else, my krillitane friend here who's rather hungry at the moment, will have a delightful little feat! The main course: screaming blondes!"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"No, you wouldn't dare," she corrected coolly. "One thing that most people back at the base don't account for is that the Monster is human, 48% in fact, and humans have emotions, something rather unnecessary to live with. But, of course, they are fragile humans, so they do need someone to leech off of. Use this disadvantage to my advantage and suddenly here I am with you at your knees, within other way to go, but down, down, down."

I stared at the girl before me my eyes wide in fear, body trembling. "Your choice, Monster. But do hurry, I believe Go'kiath here is getting a bit hungry..."  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
Doctor's POV  
Thirty minutes later, he returned to Auggie's room. "Okay, Auggie, lights-" he frowned, looking around the empty room. The window had been open, letting a chilly breeze into the room, and her phone was on the bed.

"Auggie? Augusta!?" He called, even though he knew she was gone. He swiped her phone off the bed, checking the most recent messages.

Unknown Sender:

*meet me at the bridge on 7th it's an emergency  
-Jesse

Unknown Sender:

*hurry leave now!  
-Jesse

His eyebrows ruffled, why would Jesse call her to the bridge? What was going on?! He huffed, setting the phone down and briskly heading to the TARDIS.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
When he made it to 7th street, well, really under 7th street, there was no one in sight. He frowned to himself, having guessed that under 7th street bridge had been their meet-up spot or something.

He sighed, turning around to go back into his TARDIS when suddenly a large splash sounded behind him. He quickly turned around to see black gloved hands flailing in the water before sinking.

"Augusta!?" He screamed, running and jumping in after her.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
Augusta's POV  
I always imagined death as a cold placed filled with nothingness. A place where I could no longer hurt anyone. A place where I could finally... Finally be free. Free of fear that one day the Director will come and kill me. Free of those... Those emotions that plagued my mind, making me hurt. Free of people who looking at me strangely because I was different.

I imagined death was a place where I could live safely, in a environment free of everyone. I imagined death was a place I could be... Happy.

So why?! Why do I feel like this? Why do I feel scared that maybe, maybe the Doctor will be mad? Why do I feel these emotions, these unneeded emotions?! Why... Why do I feel scared that... That I'll never see the Doctor again?

Now a new emotion filled my body as I fell through the air. Fear. Fear of 'what if?' What if the Director finds some way to revive me! What if the Doctor hates me?! What if they really were just an illusion? What if Rose and the Doctor are at home, safe and sound? What if they find out I'm missing? What if the see my cold, dead body on the side of the river?!

And what if I die? What would be the purpose of that? What about all those years I was to live?! What would happen to the universe without me in it?! And what if Jesse and Isobel find the Skasis Paradigm!? What would they do?!

Now, I was scared, I was terrified. This terror was worse than anything that I've experienced before. This was worse than anything the Director could do to me, anything that a doctor could shove into my bloodstream, any words that were thrown at me, any names that titled me. This... Was horrifying. It made my blood run cold, send shivers down my back. This was... Death.

And I don't want to die.

My body crashed into the water, sending painful jolts throughout my bones. I opened my mouth to cry out in pain hoping that maybe someone out there would save me, but instead my mouth and lungs filled with water. I coughed only to have more enter.

As my body sank further and further into the dark waters that didn't seem to end, I could feel myself get closer and closer to death with every millisecond.

I used to imagine death as dark place that would finally be my key to my well-deserved freedom. But now, the curtain has been released and I know that death isn't my key to victory, it is the prison cell of darkness that I will stay for the rest of eternity.

And my final thoughts as I joined death was a short cry into the dark, even though I knew nobody was there.

Doctor, please... Save me...  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta.
> 
> Please do not copy.


	27. C H A P T E R  T W E N T Y ~ F I V E

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Doctor Who from BBC® or Monster by Imagine Dragons, but I do own Augusta.
> 
> Please do not copy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning! Several mentions of rape, if you are uncomfortable with that, I highly recommend you skip this chapter

  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*>*<  
Chapter 25:  
Augusta's POV

It's dark. It's so dark. This isn't want I wanted; this isn't what I expected death to be! I don't want this anymore, I wanna go back. Back...

Back where? Where is my home? Where am I from? I can't go to the TARDIS, the Doctor might think that I... I broke my promise. I can't go to Jackie, she'll take me to the Doctor. And I won't be able to survive on my own! I... I don't want this anymore. I don't want to be here anymore!

Take me back! Take me back!!  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
Doctor's POV

"Doctor, please," Rose sighed as he kept pacing holes into the ground. His arms crossed tightly over his chest, his face filled with distress. "Doctor, they are going to help her. Get some rest, we may be here a while."

He stared at her, "I was there. Under the bridge. I could've caught her before she jumped. If... If I had just—"

"There was nothing that you could've done!" Rose snapped, eyes narrowed. "It's in the past; you can't change this one, Doctor. So stop. Stop taking all the blame on you, it wasn't your fault!" His gaze fell to the ground and he nodded.

"... You're right," he sighed, moving to sit in the chair. He covered his face in his hands, messing up his own hair.

The intergalactic hospital fell silent, excluding the sounds of babies squealing, carts rolling, and the collective chatter of people. After several minutes, one of the doctors strode down the hall. He was a Silurian by the looks of it. "Mr... John Smith and Mrs. Rose Tyler?" The duo were on their feet immediately, their eyes wide at the attention.

"How's Augusta? Can we see her?!" Rose asked immediately, but the doctor held a hand up to silence her.

"Augusta has experienced a lot of physical and... Mental injuries," he explained. "When she jumped into the water, she hit the back of her head. The damage to her brain made it swell significantly, which caused her to fall into a coma."

Both he and Rose froze at the news, "'Coma'?" He repeated, his eyes narrowed.

"I'm afraid so," he continued, "Luckily, we were able to stop the swelling, but there's no telling how long she'll be under, but she shouldn't be under for any longer than a month. Her injuries weren't serious enough to be under that long."

He nodded, absorbing this information. "Thank you, doctor," he wanted to sound more enthusiastic, but all he could think about was how worried he was for Augusta.

The doctor patted his shoulder comfortingly, "I'll try and keep you two updated."

"Thank you, Sir," Rose answered, earning a respectable nod before he left.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
Augusta's POV

I'm scared. I'm so, so scared. Somehow, the Director found me, I don't know how. He took me back with him, and I didn't do anything. I was dead. The Doctor probably stopped looking for me, Rose wouldn't care. Nobody would care. I'm a monster; I shouldn't even be given the time of day, much less actually think that someone, anyone, in the universe, would actually l—

A sharp smack crossed my cheek, and I flinched, the chains on my arms rattling. "Shut up, nobody wants to listen to your whiny voice!" The Director snapped. "If I hear one more thing about that bloody time lord, I'll kill you." I closed my eyes, tears threatening them. Take me back. I don't want to be here! Please! Take me bac—

Another smack. The Director opened his mouth to yell at me again, only to have the door to my cell open. "Sir," a new voice said. A familiar one. He... He was the head of experimenting. "We're ready for Subject August.23."

I began to hyperventilate, moving as close to the corner. My body began to shake, my heart rate increase in seconds. I could feel my powers flare as ice grew up along the metal bonds. I stared down at my hands in shock. No... No! Stop! I'm going to ge—

A swift kick to the chest made me double over. I felt pain sprout in the area, maybe even a rib crack. Blood spewed from my throat, unintentionally landing near the Director's shoe.

He crinkled his nose in disgust, driving his hard shoe into my lower back. I cried out in pain, squeezing my eyes shut in false hope that it'll stop the onslaught of tears springing in my eyes. "Stupid bitch," the Director spat before turning to the doctor who stood in the doorway with a morbid smirk on his face. "Take it," he said, shoving me over to the other man with his foot. I sucked in my breath, trying to control my sobbing.

Easily unlocking the chains that attached me to the wall, the new man led me out of the room. "I have no clue why the Director would harm you so," the doctor sighed to himself. "If you weren't so monstrous, I'd slip you away so you could live with me. You'd be my pet," he squeezed me close to him, his hand trailing up my shirt. My breathing constricted as he squeezed my chest, I flinched, trying to move away, but he yanked my chains closer to him.

"Now, now don't be like that, the fun has only begun," a lustful smile danced the man's lips as he turned down the hall. It was then that I realized that we were going the opposite way of the experimentation room.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
Doctor's POV

"Let me try!" He shouted, but the alien shook his head.

"It's too dangerous, she's far too unstable," the doctor, who's name is apparently Haunk, replied.

"She's been in the coma for nearly three weeks now! Who knows what's happening to her!" He argued. "Let me go in there and see if I can pull her out."

"She's showing too high of signs of mental activity; she isn't supposed to have mental activity! If you go in there, I fear you may get lost in her mind."

"It's better than letting her sit there! Please, Doctor Haunk," at this point, he was begging. He wanted his Auggie back, and would do anything in the universe to help her.

Doctor Haunk stared at him, "You really care for her, don't you?" He nodded firmly, and the doctor rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'll give you an hour. If you haven't pulled her out, then we'll have to let her wait it out." He nodded, shaking the lizard-like alien's hand gratefully.

"Thank you," he said, rather relieved now.

"Thank me when you get her out of that coma," Doctor Haunk smiled slightly. Even the corners of his mouth started to turn upwards.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
Augusta's POV

"Subject August.23," I glanced up, my eyes voided of emotion. It was that doctor. The one who kept visiting me. Who kept touching me. He walked over lifting my chin so I could make eye contact with his reddish eyes and black-and-white hair. "Ah, ah, ah, where's my smile?"

I blinked, but slowly made my lips turn upwards into a small smile. He made me greet him like that, or else I would get punished.

He smiled, patting my cheek, "Good monster. Now, the Director had to leave for a few days, but don't worry! He left me in charge of you. And, we have a few hours until your next check up, so how about we have some more fun!" I didn't reply. I just stared at the ground, my body trembling. He smiled and slowly began to take off my clothes, again.

Then, a sharp pain filled my head. I wanted go to flinch, but I knew I'd get punished if I did so. Instead, I bit my lip and closed my eyes. A few seconds later, it went away. Simultaneously, the man had finished undressing me. I began to cry again as he trailed his hands all up and down my body, licking me with his rough tongue, squeezing me with his cold fingers.

Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. St—

"Auggie?" I froze at the voice, but the doctor never stopped working. He had even started to undress himself. "Oh, my word, AUGUSTA!" I turned to see a man in a trench coat staring at me in horror.

Suddenly the room went a pure white, and the man ran over, wrapping his arms around my, now clothed, body. "Oh god, Auggie. Is that what they did to you!? I'm so, so sorry, I should've known."

"What... Are you doing?" I asked trying to move away. He touching me. Just like the man, he's touching me. My heart began to speed up, "No. No, please! Don't hurt me! Stop! No!" I screamed, trying to run away, but I felt like the chains still bonded me to the walls of my cell. This man was touching me, and I was still locked up. What if the Director came back!? What if the other man came? What if he was going to touch me to?! I don't — no. No more!

The man released me, his eyes wide, "I... I would never hurt you, Augusta. And I would never touch you like... Like that. Augusta, don't you see? It's me, the Doctor."

I still stared at the man, hot tears trailing my cheeks, "Please. I don't wanna get hurt anymore. I don't... I—" I curled into myself, my shoulders shaking with sobs. I couldn't hold it in anymore. I didn't want to be here anymore. I don't want to get hurt anymore!

I could feel my powers flare. I glanced down at my hands, they were trembling, ice growing around it. My eyes widened, "No..."

The man saw this too, "It's okay, Auggie, just control it. You can do it."

"I can't I—" I took a shaky breath, "Get away from me. You're going to get hurt!! I–I can't control it, I don't know how I—"

"Hey, hey calm down. You can do it. Just take a deep breath an—"

"NO! Run! You're going to get hurt! I don't want to hurt you—I... No! No, no, no, no, n—"

"Augusta," the man reached out a hand to me. I screamed, moving away, raising my hand to protect me.

"STAY AWAY!" A blast of ice shot out of my hand, hitting the man square in his shoulder. He groaned in pain, holding his shoulder, that profusely bled a dark, dark red. A shard of ice lodged in his shoulder.

My eyes grew wide, "N... No. I..." My mouth ran dry and my blood ran cold. "I... I... No... I'm..." Slowly, the white room around us began to turn a dark red. "I'm sorry, I can't... I can't control it. Oh god, you're bleeding. I'm sorry, I... I can't," I covered my head with my hands. "I'm a monster. I'm a monster. I'm a monster. I'm a monster. I'm a monster. I'm a—"

"Breath, Auggie," the man chided. "Just breathe. It's going to be okay. It's just a little blood, I'll be fine."

"I can't...! I can't control it," I hiccupped, "I hurt you. I'm sorry, Doctor!" This was the Doctor, I realized through all my panic. I... I hurt the Doctor!

"Listen to me," the Doctor said, his voice firm. I looked up a little, still very teary eyed. "This isn't real. Do you remember that one time when you were sick and you had a nightmare, so I had to fix your mental boundaries?" I frowned, but nodded. The memory was rather foggy in my mind. "This is just like that. You're in a coma and I don't have much time to get you out. Time is... Different here."

"B... But what if... What if I don't want to go?" I asked hesitantly. The Doctor ruffled his eyebrows.

"What are you talking about? We need to hurry, Auggie, I have no clue how much time is left."

"If I stay here, you'll be safer. I won't... I couldn't hurt you. Isn't that a good thing?"

"No, Auggie. It isn't. You don't belong here."

"I'm a monster. Where else would I belong other than here...?"

"With me and Rose! Auggie, you're not a monster. You need to get that out of your head."

"But I hurt you, I've hurt other people. If I stay here, then nobody will get hurt, right?" I slowly stood up, wiping away the tears that trailed my face.

"Auggie, please. Please, come back."

"Why? I don't want to hurt you. If I stay here then—"

"No!" He nearly shouted, his eyes narrowing. "I can't lose you again, Auggie. I can't. I need you. Rose needs you. We all need you. It won't be the same without you, Auggie."

"But I don't want to hurt you! I don't wanna... I don't want anymore blood on my hands."

"You won't have to, I'll protect you this time. Auggie, please, I love you, and I won't let anything else happen to you."

"I... I don't wanna die, Doctor," I whispered. "I don't want to. I wanna go back with you and Rose... But I don't wanna hurt you anymore."

"And you won't, Auggie. I promise you, I will make sure that you won't get hurt ever again."

"Why... Why do you care for me so much?" I murmured. "I'm an alien, I'm a murderer, I'm a monster. I could... I could kill you! Why?! Why do you keep trying to love me?!"

"Auggie, you're a very smart girl, despite whatever anyone else may say. You're kind, you're loving, you're beautiful. You're an brilliant person, and nothing will make me change my mind on that, because I love you. I don't care that you're part Elementist, I don't care that you've killed people. I don't care that you hurt me, that won't stop me from loving you, Auggie."

My eyes filled with tears that slowly dripped down my face. "You're lying," I accused, looking at the ground. "I'm not any of that! I'm a monster! I–I—"

Then, he had held me in his arms again. I stiffened, shaking again. "You're Augusta," he whispered in my ear, his hot breath trailing down my neck, sending shivers down my spine. "You're my beautiful, brilliant Augusta. And she is most definitely not a monster."

"But—"

"No. Don't try to argue because I'm right! You're my Auggie. You're the same Auggie who survived Weeping Angels. The same Auggie who jumped out of a burning house. The same Auggie who I taught how to read. The same Auggie who let me teach how to love. You are the same Auggie who I found hurt on the side of my TARDIS, patched up, and became like a daughter to me."

"I... I don't know how to be a daughter..." I murmured, looking away.

"I'll teach you. It's not hard, you've been doing great all this time."

I laughed, "Thank you, Doctor. I... I lo—" and then he was gone.

I was back in my cell with the head of doctor's on top of me. I screamed, moving away. "NO! No! Where'd he go?! Where's the Doctor?!"

The man growled at me, grabbing my chains and pulling me back to him, "Shut up!"

"No! Where's the—" I was slapped, tears springing into my eyes.

"If you don't shut the hell up," he growled. "I'm going to fuck you so hard you won't even remember your own name!" He turned me over and the process began. I screamed until my throat grew hoarse, crying, trying to move away, but he held a tighter hold on me. I tried to hurt him, but he would press the shocking button on my collar if I did and he did a few times.

Once he finished, I went back into the corner of my cell, my sobs reducing to whimpers and slight hyperventilation. The doctor sneered at my fetal form before leaving the room.

I sniffed, my chains rattling slightly. It's not... It's not real, isn't it. He said... No! Don't want to be here! I don't want to, i–it's not real!!

I don't have to be here, I don't! This is all a dream, right? Right?! I can leave! The Director can't hurt me if it's a dream! I don't have to be here! I can see the Doctor again!

My cell began to slowly grow dark as the black shadows started to consume the room. I gasped, trying to move away, but in a matter of mere seconds, the entire room was consumed in the darkness.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
I shot up, gasping. Cold sweat beaded my skin and my throat burned. Where am I? Whe—

I froze, realizing the familiar scent and where I was. No... No! Not again! No!!

I felt the ice begin to grow underneath my fingertips. In seconds it covered my entire bed. I heard footsteps coming down the hall, followed by several voices. I gasped, squeezing my eyes closed as the door opened.

"I'm sorry, Mr. John, we ca—... What in the world happened here...?" I looked up, to see a man in a white lab coat standing at the door, holding a brown clipboard in front of him. My stomach churned, and I let out a small squeal of terror. "Why is it so—"

I covered my face with my hands, curling my body into a ball, "No, no, no, no, no, no—" My powers reacted with my emotions, as the ice began to grow more frantically.

"Get down!" A familiar voice said, and then a hard thud hit the floor. I looked up a little. The entire door was blocked off by a wall of thick ice. "Auggie! It's okay, it's me, remember? Calm down, let Doctor Haunk and I in the room."

"N–No, I... I don't want to... No–No more!! St–Stop! I can't—no!" I screamed, sobbing even harder, "Don't let the–them touch me! I–I don't want to–to g–get hurt anymore! Do–Doctor... D–Doctor help. Hel–help me, pl–pl–please!"

"I can't help you if you won't let me in, Auggie," I heard him answer. I took a shaky breath, trying as hard as I could to make the ice go away, but nothing happened.

"I–It's not—it's not working! I can't control it, Doctor. Help, I can't—it won't work!"

"Calm down, Augusta. Listen to my voice. You're going to be okay. This is going to be okay, just stay calm, you're not going to hurt anyone, okay? You're going to be perfectly fine, I promise."

I let out a choked sob, "I... I—"

"Remember our routine? Take a deep breath in, ready? One... Two... Three... In," I closed my eyes, trying to listen to his voice and his instructions.

"I can't—"

"In, Auggie. Breath in." I tried again, trying as hard as I could to calm my breathing, "Three... Two... One, out. Okay, again, ready? One... Two... Three, in," breath in. "... Three... Two... One, out. Again." He kept doing this, over and over and over again, and slowly, with each breath, the ice began to retract. Soon, the doorway was cleared, allowing him to carefully step into the very frigid room. He pulled his tanned trench coat tighter, to his chest as he stepped closer to me.

"Auggie—"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, I–I just don't wanna get hurt anymore. I'm so scared, I don—" I rambled.

"It's okay, it's all going to be okay," he coaxed, slowly moving forward. "You can do it, Auggie, just breathe, okay. Breath."

"I can't! I really can't! I'm going to hurt you, I don't want to hurt you! I–I'll be no better than him! Please, get away from me!" I sobbed, my shoulders shaking.

"Auggie, you're not going to hurt me," he said.

I shook my head, my hands covering my ears. "I don't want to hurt you. I don't. I don't. I don't. Please don't let me hurt you! I don't want to, I don't, I—"

"Augusta," the name sent shivers through my body. "Listen to me, it's going to be okay. Nobody's hurt and nobody needs to get hurt. You're not going to hurt anyone, but you have to trust me and calm down."

"I... I hurt you..."

"That doesn't matter."

"I could hurt you again... I–I don't want to hurt you again. I don't want to hurt anyone ever again."

"Good. That's good. Nobody has to get hurt, but if you don't calm down, someone might."

"I'm... I'm scared, Doctor. I'm scared of me..."

The Doctor sighed, "It's okay to be scared, Auggie. Remember what I said that one time? Even I get scared, but it's just another obstacle to get over. Just take a deep breath and calm down and everything will be fine."

I was silent for a few seconds. Finally, I took a deep, shaky breath, closing my eyes. Calm down. Calm down and no–no one will get hurt. I won't hurt the Doctor, I won't hurt Rose, just... Just calm down...

A few minutes laters, I felt a weight shift on the bed, I looked up to see the Doctor sitting down on the end of the hospital bed, smiling at me. "Good job, Auggie," he praised.

I jumped at home, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck. "I'm so sorry!" I cried. "I didn't mean to do that! I didn't mean to jump, I swear! I thought that you and Rose were going to get hurt! She said they she was going to kill you and I—"

"Hey, hey, it's okay," the Doctor said, rubbing my back soothingly. "You're back and that's all that matters."

"I'm sorry..." I murmured, my body shaking slightly. "I'm really sorry. I won't do it again, I–I swear..."

"That's nice to know," he chuckled. Someone at the door cleared their throat. I jumped up to see a man in a white lab coat looking at the both of us. He had scaly skin like that girl from that hospital with the cat nuns, except every part of him screamed doctor.

My eyes widened, and I instinctively moved back, my hands clutching the bed sheets. "It's okay, Auggie, he's a good doctor. He's not going to hurt you," the Doctor assured, resting his large hands on top of my bare ones.

I slowly nodded, moving my hands away and keeping it close to my chest as I watched the man, who was smiling warmly at me, go over to the medical machines. He set down a wooden clipboard on the top. "My name is Doctor Haunk," he greeted. "It is nice to finally see you awake, Augusta."

"H... Hello..." I said in barely over a whisper.

His warm smile turned into a concerned frown, "I was informed of your past with doctors like me and I can assure you that I will not hurt you, young one. As long as you are in this facility you will not be harmed."

"Oh... Okay, sorry, I, uhm..." I scratched my bare hand, literally itching for my gloves back.

"It is quite alright, child," he smiled. "Now, I will have to give you a short check up to make sure everything is okay. Mr. John Smith, you may wait in the waiting room until I finish."

"No!" I cried, making both pairs of eyes fall on me. "I–I mean, I..." I looked down, but my signs of fear were very visible.

"It'll be okay, Auggie," The Doctor assured. "I'll just be down the hall. Besides, I need to call Rose to tell her you're awake."

I gave him a helpless look, but he just messed up my hair. "You'll be fine," he said again. "Right down the hall. You can literally shout if you need me, although I'm sure Mr. Haunk wouldn't like that very much."

"Yes, I would prefer you didn't," the lizard doctor chuckled, "But if you need me to, I will call him in whenever you would like."

"I promise Auggie. I'll be right back," he gave me one last smile before leaving the room.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
I silently stared at the wall in my hospital room. A short knocking on the wall door brought me out of my empty thoughts, "Come in," I called, and then the Doctor and Rose walked into the door.

"Auggie!" Rose said, running to my bed and embracing me in a strong hug. "We were all so worried. What were you thinking, jumping off that bridge?! You could've died!"

"S... Sorry, Rose, I didn't mean to..." I murmured. "I missed you so much..."

She laughed, sniffing a little, "I did too."

"Visiting hours are over in a few minutes," the Doctor warned, "We'll have to come back tomorrow, and then I'll see about what they can do about letting you out, okay?" I nodded, leaning back in my bed.

"Good night, Auggie," Rose smiled, planting a soft kiss on my head. I froze, my skin tingling in the spot where her lips touched. "I'll see you in the mornin', okay?" I gave a small, silent nod, touching the part she kissed. It sent shivers through my body making me shudder, my stomach twisting again.

"I'll wait in the TARDIS," Rose said, smiling at us before exiting.

"Night," the Doctor said, rubbing my arm, but I grabbed his hand. He rose an eyebrow at me, "Is everything okay?"

"I... I don't know."

He frowned, "What's up?"

"I... Well, it's another emotions kind of thing I don't understand," I murmured, feeling really embarrassed, "Sorry. You should be leaving. I... We can talk in the morning."

"No, no, tell me. I'm sure I can help," he smiled.

I took a deep breath, "Well, uh... It's about you and Rose. Whenever you do... Anything, at first my stomach hurts and then my chest. I don't know if I'm–I'm sick or something is wrong because it won't go away. A... Are you hurting me? Is that it...?"

"No, that's not it, Auggie. It's, another kind of love thing. When it hurts to be together or apart. It's kind of like guilt, but a bit worse."

"How do I stop it? What if... What if I don't want to feel this anymore. It hurts, Doctor. I don't want to hurt."

He sighed, "I wish I could tell you you could, but you really can't stop yourself from having emotions. It's just something that happens. You'll just have to face it head on and hope for the best."

"Visiting hours are over," the intercom announced, "Please return home and leave your patients to rest for the night..."

"That's my cue," he chuckled, planting a kiss on my head as well, and once again my skin tingled and my stomach twist. "Sweet dreams, Auggie. I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Doctor. I..." I paused, "I love you."

His mouth twitched upwards, as he headed for the door, "I do too." Then, he closed the door and the lights well out.  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
"Now, now, Monster, stay still," the man whispered breathlessly in my ear. "Or else you'll just be here forever~."

"N... No..." I moaned, "No! St–Stop!"

"Shut up," the man hissed, "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! You are mine...  You're no one else, but mines! You'll do as I say, and do it without question!"

"No!! Please," I sobbed, "Get off me! Get off me!!" Tears streaked my cheeks as the man squeezed my chest again. I flinched away as his cold fingers traced my breasts. My sons became louder, but his laughter seemed to grow as well. No, not the laughter. Stop, don't... I don't want to hear it, please! Please, stop! Please!!  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<  
I shot up gasping, my heart pounding in my chest, I glanced around. Where am I?!

My eyes widened at the scent, is... Is this the—

No. No, it's not. You're at a hospital. The Doctor and Rose brought you here after Isobel and Jesse made you jump off the bridge, nearly killing you. You're not with the Director.

Tears streaked my cheeks and I felt something wet drop from my face to my arm. No. No crying or else you'll get punished. Stop crying. Monsters don't cry, they destroy. I destroy everything. I'm a monster. I'm a—

But... The Doctor said I wasn't. He said that I was beautiful and brilliant. I've never been called that before. Does he... Does he really mean it?

He lied to you! Can't you see! Stop being naïve! This is how people get hurt; this is how you get hurt! You trust people and then they break it. Just look at Jesse or Isobel! They hate you! Everyone hates you!

T... The Doctor said he loved me...

That doesn't mean shit! He lied! He's the Doctor, and the Doctor lies! He wants to use you! And then, after he's done using you, he's going to give you up to the Director. No, he'll work with the Director and that other doctor who kept touching you! There's no escaping it! You're just a monster, a slave for someone else's use! You're worthless! Nothing! Nobody will ever accept a monster like you!

I froze, my own thoughts bouncing in my head, the Doctor lies. He lied. He wanted me to die. He wanted to leave me—

But he saved me! And he helped me! I... Doesn't that count for something!?

He was probably going to bring me back to the Director! That's the only reason why he saved me! I'm simply a tool. That's all I am; that's all monsters are. A tool for someone else's convenience. I'm not human, I'm not an Elementist. I'm not... I'm not the Doctor's daughter. And I'm not loved. I'm simply a tool.

I laid down on the bed, but not sleeping. I stared at the ceiling, vaguely remembering something the Director told me one time.

"A monster is a monster and nothing would ever change that."  
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooo~ another chapter! And a lot of feels at that! Sorry for the trigger warning, if you didn't read then here's a summary.
> 
> It's basically what happened after she jumped; she was in a coma for four weeks, reliving nearly everything that happened when she was with the Director, except there is a new character, the head of experimentation. Basically, he's the Director's second in command.
> 
> After getting past all the icky stuff, we shift to the Doctor's POV who asks if he could go into her mind and get her out of the coma, and he is granted permission to do so.
> 
> He finds our main character being... Ickily touched, and saves her, and takes her to a different part in her mind to talk. You can actually read this part, it's good. But, before he could fully pull her out, his hour that e is granted runs out and he is removed from her mind, so she goes back to being forced to do icky. After the Head of Experimentations doctor finishes(I was too lazy to give him a legit alien name), she decides to take his advice and leaves her coma herself.
> 
> Everything past here is pretty good, until the nightmare near the end where she relieves a small part of that, then has a argument with herself about the Doctor's integrity.


End file.
